Taking care of you
by Beinghappyiseasier
Summary: Sans is trying to move on after his father dies. He decides to go to the lab to find closure when he discovers something he didn't expect. What is that little skeleton doing there? And what kind of experiments was he subjected to?
1. Chapter 1

Sans took a deep breath.

It had been a week since the incident, and even if he didn't want to, he knew that sooner or later he would have to go to the lab.

Grillby insisted it wasn't necessary; he could do it for him. But Sans was determined to face it on his own. I was his past, his father, his memories. He didn't need anyone to take care of it. Of course he understood Grillby's worry given the circumstances, but he believed all the same that he wouldn't be able to move on if he didn't do this by himself.

Sans didn't hate his father. He had every reason to, since in his short 13 years he had suffered more than any kid, or any person at all, should. But in some way his father had taken care of him; he'd never been short on food and in the last years his father had reduced a lot the level of pain of his experiments. He didn't take him to the lab anymore and most of the test were run in his bedroom, which left him quite comfortable to sleep off the pain. Sans thought it was because in some way his father felt some kind of affection towards him, too.

Yes, it was an unusual father-son relationship they had. But when your father creates you with the only purpose of serving as a way to experiment and develop his knowledge, it wasn't strange at all not to feel like a 'proper' son. "One gets used to it", Sans thought.

So, in a way, Sans loved his father, even a little bit. Besides, he was one of the few people he actually knew. He was only allowed to go to Grillby's to get food-since his father didn't want to leave the lab-and come back. He wasn't supposed to talk to anyone, and therefore people who knew he existed were few and far between; he was just someone they came across on their way, someone who didn't even ring a bell as to who he may be. But Sans was ok with it. One gets used to it.

With his life organized as it was back then, it came as a shock to him when Grillby, the only one who was aware of Sans' existence, called to his door to inform him of his father's death. He had died in one of his attempts to discover more, more than he should. This didn't surprise him. But his whole world was turned upside down; what would he do now? He was just a kid, and even if he took care of himself most of the time, how would he do it without his routine, without his father to boss him around?

He'd felt bad that relief filled him when he realized he wouldn't be subjected to more experiments; his creator had died and he could only think of that. After all he was his father and he should be suffering his loss, not rejoicing in it. But Sans had always been aware that what his father did to him wasn't right, although he wasn't allowed to tell anyone. Until then.

Despite the constant monotonous expression in Grillby's face, Sans could notice he was growing angrier every second as he continued to tell him what his father did to him during his experiments. His flames burned more intensely. He regretted ever talking; he hadn't wanted to in the first place, but Grillby had insisted he did, looking for an explanation to the messy house and the now notorious marks in Sans' bones.

Once he finished his story, Grillby had raged. But he couldn't kill a dead man. So he decided to offer Sans the option of living with him.

Sans trusted him, he knew him since he was little; the first time he had seen Grillby the latter had offered him ketchup, and Sans had looked at him confused. He didn't know what ketchup was back then. Since he had tried it he'd always asked Grillby for recommendations, and he'd always get the best food, delivered to him much faster than to the other clients. They had never been able to talk seriously, but Sans had always thought they shared some kind of bond.

However, he decided to stay at home. He would be alone, but at least he could walk around Snowdin when and however he wanted, meet new people, and be at Grillby's as long as he wanted to. Besides, he'd spent his whole life there. Losing his father and his home at the same time would be too much for him.

Grillby understood, as he expected to, and assured Sans that he would always be there for him for whatever he needed; he just needed to go to Grillby's, and he'd be waiting.

So his life had changed drastically in a second, but Sans was fine. He'd grieved his father, of course, but they'd never spent much time together to begin with, and when his daily share of pain was reduced to cero…Well, let's say that Sans couldn't bring himself to feel too bad about the whole thing.

But it did give him chills to go to the lab. He'd suffered a lot there. It was the only place he hadn't visited since Gaster-as everyone called him, though Sans had never known that was his actual name-died, but today he decided that it was time to go. He had to get over it. To move on. He couldn't be scared of a silly lab forever. Grillby told him that it was understandable being just a child, but Sans knew that he had matured way beyond any average 13-year-old kid. And he had to do this.

The lab was at the back of the house, so he took the keys and went out to the ever present blizzard of Snowdin. The cold didn't bother him, since he was always looking for an excuse to wear his jacket. It was the only one he owned, actually; one of the few things his father had given to him in the few years they were together, and his most valuable possession, however sad that might sound.

He stood in front of the door. His hands shook lightly, which made it more difficult for him to get the key in the lock. When he managed to do it, he unlocked the door and slowly opened it.

He poked his head in; the room was completely dark. He couldn't see or hear anything.

Taking a deep breath, he went inside and hurried to the place where he knew was the light switch. He was about to turn the lights on when he heard movement from one of the corners of the room, the one further to him. He stopped, alert.

"Who's there?"-he asked, his voice trembling despite his efforts to appear sure of himself. No one replied, but he heard someone moving in the darkness again. It seemed like they were…crawling?-"I know you're there. I'm gonna turn on the light."-he warned.

"Wait!"-he heard a little whimper. It sounded like it was…-"I'm still a little sleepy and the light will hurt my eyes."

…A little kid.

Apparently his father hid more things than just torture instruments in his lab.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, that was unexpected.

Sans breathed in. He let the air out slowly, trying to calm himself down. There was a little kid inside his father's lab. He didn't know what he was doing there or how he had gotten inside, and the most worrisome thing; he didn't know how long he had been locked in there. The important thing now was to find the little monster's parents and then he would continue to clean up the lab as he had previously intended to.

"Ok, I won't turn on the lights now, but I will have to do it later so I can see you"-he told him as calmly as he could-"Can you come out?"

The kid didn't reply.

"I'm not gonna hurt you. I promise. I just want to help you get out of here and go back home"-he really wanted this to end as quickly as possible. Being in the lab in complete darkness wasn't the most comforting thing.

"Where is the doctor?"-he asked instead, ignoring everything Sans had said.

"What?"

"I said where is the doctor"-he repeated raising his voice, though it still sounded a little shaky.

"Look, kid"-Sans started, without understanding what he meant. He approached the place where the voice came from-"You really shouldn't be here. Let me take you to your parents-"

"DON'T COME CLOSER"-he screamed, and the smack against the floor after the child tried to get up echoed all over the room.

Sans ran to the light switch. The poor kid was hysterical, slipping again and again in his failed attempts to sit up, and he couldn't take it anymore.

He turned the lights on and had to close his eyes at the sudden change. Behind him he heard a groan and a little whimper. He blinked a couple of times, trying to adjust to the light, and turned back to the child

"Calm down, it's just-"

He couldn't finish the sentence.

The Little monster to whom he had been talking was a skeleton. Just like him. Just like Gaster. There weren't other monsters like that in Snowdin. It was just the two of them…Three. Oh, God. What had his father been up to?

"Y-You're…"-he stammered, incapable of talking.

"Leave me alone. Go away!"-moaned the child, who hadn't turned to look at him at any moment. He had just kept curled up on himself on the floor after falling in yet another failed attempt to rise, showing him only his back. He had hidden behind the stretcher and had become entangled between several cables.

"I don't think I can do that"-he was shaking. Why was he shaking?-"Can you come out for a second?"

"No"-it sounded like he was pouting. That made him smile a little. After all, the kid was just that: a kid.

"Come on"-he tried to encourage him. Maybe if he acted more carefree the skeleton woudn't be so afraid of him-"I'm sure being there all by your own must be very bonely-he heard a muttered complaint-"What was that?"

"Stop making bad puns"-the child said raising his voice, sounding a little more confident.

"Oh, come on, don't you find me humerus?"-he kept going, cheerful.

This time the kid had to stiffle a laugh. Sans smiled. He sounded like a nice boy.

"Can you come out, please? I really want to help you"-he tried again, hoping that he had gained a little bit of the skeleton's trust.

"The doctor isn't with you?"-he heard the shy reply.

"No, it's just you and me. I promise"-he answered, ignoring the feeling in his chest when he thought about why the kid was so afraid of "the doctor"

He started to unravel, taking the cables away from in between his legs until he was finally free and could get up. He stumbled a little bit and grabbed onto the leg of the stretcher so as not to fall. How long had it been since he last walked? Once he had stabilized himself he stared at him, not saying anything.

Sans took a few seconds to look at him. He was very small, and he didn't know if that was because of his age or the conditions in which he appeared to have had grown up. He was wearing a green gown, the type that his father made him wear when it was him that went to the lab. And that made him think: his father had forbidden him to go to the lab some years ago. At the time he had thought it was a miracle, but now it occurred to him that maybe that was because he had found a replacement. Someone else to experiment with. What had been the point? Why had he decided to create somebody else? It seemed that he had even mistreated him more than Sans.

He decided to save those questions for later. Now the important thing was to help the little kid, who seemed more and more confused every passing second. It was probably because of how Sans was looking at him.

"Hello"-he said, crouching so they could be the same height-"I'm Sans"-he smiled and stretched his hand, offering it so he could shake it. The kid looked at it, apparently not getting what he had to do. He didn't seem familiar with introductions. Sans understood. He had learnt only because of Grillby. He removed his hand, still smiling-"What's your name?"

"The doctor calls me P-AI2"-he replied, his voice almost a whisper.

"Oh"-that was new. Sans had had a name since the momento he was created-"Well, that's not a name worthy of someone as cool as you, is it?"-he gave him an encouraging smile.

The kid looked at him surprised but didn't say anything-"What do you think of…Papyrus? It's not that different but it's much cooler, don't you think?"

The child smiled, showing him the first smile so far. For some reason that filled him with pride. Being able to make Papyrus smile made him feel happy and he wanted to do it more often.

"Well, Papyrus, how about we get out of this horrible place?"-at this, the expression on the kid's face changed abruptly.

"No, no, no, he's going to find me, he's already told me. He'll look for me and he'll find me"-he started to move backwards, scared, ignoring the cables that were behind him.

"Hey, hey, watch out!"-Sans got closer and grabbed his arm, trying to keep him from tripping once again.

"DON'T TOUCH ME"-Papyrus screamed, trashing around in his attempt to free himself from san's grip. He let him go for fear of hurting him, which led to Papyrus falling to the floor once again, this time hitting his arm painfully. He grabbed it and started sobbing, without getting up from the floor.

Sans sighed, feeling sorry for the kid. He was so scared and paranoid that he ended up hurting himself

He wanted to cry. How could Gaster do something like that to this poor skeleton? It's true, Sans had had a bad time as well, but it seemed like what he had been through wasn't even a fraction of what Papyrus had suffered.

But he couldn't cry now. He had to be strong for him. So he sat down on the floor, not wanting to get too close for fear of scaring him even more.

"Hey, Pap"-he started, his voice as calm as he could keep it. The kid kept crying-"I know that you're scared and that it hurts, but I don't want to do anything bad to you. I mean it. I just want to help you"

"But the doctor is going to punish me if I misbehave"-he replied, looking at him through his tears, not letting go of his arm.

"Papyrus, I promise you I won't let anyone hurt you. Neither the doctor nor anyone else. You just have to trust me"-he looked at him smiling gently-"What do you say? Are you gonna let me heal that arm? I'm sure it must hurt"-he offered him his hand. Papyrus looked at it, not crying anymore, but not saying anything either. Sans retracted his arm-"Papyrus, look at me"-the child did-"I'm not gonna hurt you. And I swear on my life I won't let anyone else do it. You don't have to worry about the doctor, not anymore. Do you trust me?-and this time he opened his arms in invitation, though he didn't know if the kid was aware of how hugs worked.

Papyrus sat up still looking at him and then started crying harder than before, but finally he approached Sans and let him embrace him. Sans leaned his skull over Papyrus' and let him cry all he needed. He would take care of this little skeleton, no matter how much it costed.

(Hello again! Hope you like this chapter! I've never posted in so I don't know if there's a way to make author notes…?

Anyway, I beg you to tell me if you find any mistakes or if anything sounds funny since English is not my first language. And if you want to ask me anything or message me, either for mistakes or anything else, my tumblr is beinghappyiseasier.

Thanks for reading!)


	3. Chapter 3

When Papyrus stopped crying Sans drew away a little so he could look at him in the eye.

"What do you say? Do you wanna go out?"-he asked, smiling gently. Papyrus nodded without saying a word and Sans stood up-"Let's go"-he said, offering him his hand. Papyrus stretched his good arm and took it without hesitating.

As soon as they went out of the lab Sans realized he had forgotten about a little detail. He looked at Papyrus, who was shivering from the cold winter of Snowdin, hugging himself as best as he could with his hurt arm.

"Hey, Pap, do you want me to carry you?"-he suggested opening his jacket, which frankly was too wide for Sans but in this case was an advantage-"I'm sure my jacket can manage both of us"-he winked at him, trying to convey confidence. He didn't know how comfortable the skeleton felt with him yet, and he was afraid of pushing his limits too much.

To his surpise and delight Papyrus nodded again, seeming relieved. Sans scooped him up and leaned him against his chest, wrapping him with his jacket and holding him firmly. He started walking as fast as possible to the front of the house, nervous for some reason. Maybe it was just the pressing need to put Papyrus in a comfortable environment. The little monster had settled his head between his neck and shoulder and hadn't uttered a word. He tried not to let that worry him; after all the kid ought to be exhausted.

With difficulty he managed to open the door, closing it with his foot once they were inside. The temperature difference was astonishing; Papyrus instantly raised his head and started looking around.

Sans approached the only sofa he owned. It wasn't very big, barely two people could fit in it, but it was the perfect size for Papyrus to lie on. He put him down delicately, which was no use at all. As soon as his feet touched the surface of the sofa he stood up, not without difficulty, and grabbed on to the back of it to keep from falling and be able to look around with curiosity.

"It's soft"-he noted in a whisper, amazed. Sans smiled sadly.

"Yes, it's soft"-he agreed, and sat down next to him-"Don't you want to lie down? You should rest for a while. You must be tired"-he certainly should. Any kid would be after such a stressing experience. In fact Sans felt pretty sleepy himself. But Papyrus shook his head.

"I'm tired of sleeping"-he complained, though his legs decided to give up at that precise moment and he fell to the sofa with a thud. He tried to get up once again, determined, but his legs weren't responding. His eyes filled with tears of frustration.

"Bud, how 'bout you stay here and I'll go get something to heal that arm?-said Sans, looking for an excuse that let the kid not feel so bad about not being able to get up. It was something perfectly understandable; his body wasn't in good condition, at all.

Papyrus nodded, still mad but seeming a little more calm. Sans stood up and walked to the bathroom, stopping in the middle of it. How do you fix a bone? What did his father use to fix his? Sans looked at his marks, as if looking for the answer. It occurred to him that in general his father used magic, which he projected with his hands, but he had never tied it himself. His father only allowed him to use magic to fight, not to heal, and he didn't want to risk hurting Papyrus.

He decided to improvise with a bandage, which other monsters sometimes did to heal their own bones. He knew that it wasn't the same, that they didn't have the same bones everyone else had, but it was what he could do for now.

He came out of the bathroom with as much bandage as he could find and got back to Papyrus, who had finally lied down settling his head on one of the ends of the sofa. He had his eyes closed, but he slowly opened them when he heard Sans arriving.

"Ok kid, now I'm gonna bandage that arm of yours. It might hurt a bit, but it's just so you can't move it and hurt yourself even more"-he informed him as he crouched beside him. Papyrus didn't reply, just closed his eyes, which Sans took as a sign of consent, so he started working quickly wrapping his arm with bandage.

It didn't take him long, and he didn't know if that's how he was supposed to do it, since he had never done it before, but he felt happy with the result. He was taking care of this little kid and that in some way made him feel proud of himself.

When he finished he raised his head, smiling. Papyrus hadn't complained or even flinched, and he didn't want to think about why he hadn't. He just wanted the feeling of satisfaction to stay.

"Ok, it's done"-he announced, standing up. It was then when he noticed that Papyrus had fallen asleep while he was bandaging him.

He sighed, feeling tiredness filling him once again. He decided that he would take a nap too, and then he would take care of cooking for both of them. Who knew when was the last time this kid ate? After all, he had been locked up on his own for a week. And he wasn't even sure that his father had fed him daily.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind Sans sat on the other end of the sofa. Papyrus had fallen asleep with his legs flexed, in fetal position, which gave him enough space to sit down and feel the feet of the child touching him lightly. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

A while later Sans opened his eyes. It took him some seconds to realize where he was, and with whom. He looked to his side and saw Papyrus, who slept in the same position in which he had left him earlier.

He yawned and stretched, still tired but determined to keep on taking care of the kid. He didn't know why he was so committed to it, he just was. He felt the skeleton was his responsibility now, and for some reason that didn't bother him.

He got up and went to the kitchen. He didn't know what to cook. Whenever he could he would go to Grillby's, and he would occasionally fix a snack when it wasn't time to eat (meaning when his father didn't let him out). But he couldn't go to Grillby's and leave him alone; he didn't know what would happen if he woke up alone to find the house empty. And he couldn't give him a snack, since it wasn't the healthiest thing for children in his condition. He needed real food, food that left him satisfied and happy.

There was only pasta in the shelves. The fridge was almost always empty, except for some of the food his father consumed now and then, which was now rotten.

He decided to ask Papyrus if he was fine with him making spaghetti, since he didn't know the boy's experience with food.

He approached the sofa and crouched to wake him up.

"Hey, Pap"-he whispered, not wanting to scare him. The kid kept on sleeping-"Pap"-he insisted, placing his hand on his shoulder and shaking him slightly. No response-"Papyrus"-he repeated more intently, shaking him with more strength. Nothing.

Sans stopped breathing.

"Papyrus, wake up. Papyrus. Papyrus!"-he called again and again, without success. The boy was still unconscious. Sans stood up and started pacing, scared-"What do I do? What do I do?"-he asked himself out loud. Then he stopped, looking at the door.

He ran to it, opened it and went out to the snow. He tripped a couple of times, since his slippers weren't adequate to run in the snow, but he kept on getting up and moving, moving as fast as he could. He started screaming.

"Help! Grillby!"


	4. Chapter 4

Sans arrived at the bar, panting from the effort. People in the streets had looked at him while he was running, seeming confused and some even scared, but he had paid no attention to them. He opened the door and didn't close it behind him, just ran straight to the counter, where he could see Grillby serving the customers.

"Grillby!"-he screamed, even though he was standing directly in front of him. Grillby looked at him-"Please, I need your help!"-Grillby tilted his head slightly, confused, but when he saw the desperation in the skeleton's eyes he turned to the customer, apologized in his ever so quiet voice and went with Sans, who was out the door the second he knew Grillby would follow him.

"Sans"-he tried to call, but Sans was too far ahead to hear and the blizzard didn't help at all. Sans kept going. And so did he, resigned to not know what this was about until they reached their destination, wherever that may be.

They finally got to the house. Sans arrived first, and seeing Grillby still a few meters behind he went back and tugged at his sleeve to get him to hurry.

"Please"-he said once they were inside-"I don't know what to do."

Grillby wanted to ask him what was wrong but the child was so accelerated that he didn't get the chance. He was practically pushed to the sofa, and when he was finally there he didn't know how to react.

There was a small skeleton, who seemed even younger than Sans, sleeping there. Or at least apparently sleeping. The emotional state the older one was in was probably a sign that something was wrong with him.

He thought of what to say next.

"What's wrong with them, Sans?"-he settled for. Other superficial questions could be asked later.

"He's not waking up"-he cried, his hands shaking-"I was gonna make dinner and wanted to ask him what he wanted but when I came here he was sleeping so I tied to wake him up but he wouldn't so I went to get you but he's still not awake and what if he's dead what if he never wakes up what if-"-Grillby crouched and took his hand, which made him go instantly quiet.

"I need you to calm down Sans, ok? Can you do that for me?"-the skeleton nodded, tears still streaming down his face but seeming to be a little less hysterical-"Ok. I'm going to check him and while I do I need you to tell me what might have caused this, all right?"-another nod.

Grillby turned still crouching and approached the little monster. The first thing he noticed was that he was still breathing; that's a good start. Then he saw the small cracks in his head. Not so good. If this was going the way he thought he was going to have a long night at home trying to calm himself down.

He noticed more cracks and marks all over the visible parts of the kid's body, then realized he didn't know his name.

"What's his name?"-he asked, placing a hand on the child's forehead. Just what he expected; he was burning up. And that came from a monster that was made of fire.

"Papyrus"-Sans replied, sniffing. Then he started talking like Grillby had asked him to-"I went to my father's lab today and found him there. I think he was experimenting with him too"-the flames of the elemental started burning hotter, but he didn't say anything. Sans continued-"He was really scared but I convinced him to come here and let him sleep a little while. He seemed fine then! I don't know why this happened"-his voice started wavering again but he tried to control it-"He found it a little hard to walk but that's all"-he finished letting out a shaky breath, not taking his eyes off Grillby's hand, which inspected every bone he could in the little skeleton.

Grillby wasn't surprised this had happened. If what Sans said was true, and he didn't have a doubt that it was, that meant this kid had been locked in a lab for God knows how long. It was to be expected that his body wouldn't be able to take all that stress, hunger and thirst without consequences.

"Look, Sans"-he stood up and looked at him-"Papyrus here probably has a fever. But you don't need to worry"-he hurried when he saw the fear in the older one's eyes-"At least not too much. You just need to take care of him. He will wake up, eventually, but his body needs to sleep through this. Now, could you please bring me a wet cloth? Whatever you can find"

Sans rushed out the room and came back a couple minutes later. Grillby suspected he had torn one of his few shirts to get the cloth but he didn't ask, just took it and put it on Papyrus' forehead.

"We need to give him medicine, water and some food, although the food can wait a few hours. If he hasn't woken up by then I would recommend taking him to the doctor. They know better than me what to do in this situations"-he saw Sans fidgeting with his fingers nervously-"What's the matter?"

"I don't think he'd like that. Going to the doctor, I mean. He'd be scared"

"Well, we'll try to solve this ourselves while we can, but if this doesn't work we'll have no other choice. But don't worry, I'll try to not let that happen"-he smiled reassuringly, but it got lost between his flames. Despite that, Sans still got the gesture and smiled back.

"I'll go get the medicine. You stay here and watch him, all right? Oh, and remember to get that cloth wet again every now and then. We need it to be cold"-Sans nodded and with that Grillby was out of the house.

Sans approached Papyrus' sleeping form and sat on the floor next to him.

"You're gonna be ok, Pap. Grillby always knows what to do. But if you're hungry you need to wake up right now, pal. Cause if not you know what Grillby said, we're gonna have to go to the doctor and even I would hate that stuff. Not that I ever went there, Gaster would never take me but-"-he paused. He had never called his father by his name, at least not out loud. But the more he found out what Papyrus had been through, the less he wanted to refer to him by that title; "father". He went on-"Well, anyway, the thing is that we're gonna take care of you and you'll be ok in no time at all"

He stayed there, looking at Papyrus who still hadn't moved an inch. He sighed. Then he had an idea.

"Hey, I bet Gaster never told you any stories, did he?"-he didn't wait for an answer-"Well, he didn't tell me any either, but Grillby told me a couple when I was five and got bored waiting for my food to get cooked. I don't remember many, but maybe I can invent one for you. Just let me think"

He stopped talking for a few seconds. Then he started telling his story.

"Fluffy Bunny was very fluffy"

 **Thanks for the support guys! Hope you like this one! I wanted to say that I'll probably update on this Friday too cause I'm moving on Saturday and won't have internet until hopefully Thursday so yeah, that.**

 **Thank you for the support!**


	5. Chapter 5

Sans finished his story with a sigh. He had had to get up to change the cloth every now and then and in doing so he had to stop talking, which for some reason made him feel uneasy. He knew Papyrus was still unconscious but he didn't like to feel like he was disturbing him by doing that. After all, he could still be listening to his story, right?

Once he was finished he kept by Papyrus' side, waiting for Grillby. He didn't have to wait for long. Grillby arrived with a bag that seemed to contain more than just medicine.

"How's Papyrus?"-he asked approaching both of the skeletons. Sans shrugged and stayed quiet, staring at the bag-"I brought some medicine"-he said, placing the bag on the table and taking out its contents. Sans walked over to stand next to Grillby to inspect everything.

"What's this?"-Sans asked, picking up a little bottle filled with pink liquid.

"That's the medicine. You're going to have to help me give it to him."-he then took out a splint, and showed it to Sans-"I noticed you bandaged Papyrus' arm. That's ok,"-he clarified seeing the fear in Sans' eyes at the thought of doing something harmful to the little skeleton-"but I thought that maybe this would help him a little more. If you want you can help me put it on him."-Sans nodded, eager to help.

"I brought some food too. I know you like coming to me for that, but now you need to stay and take care of Papyrus and you can only do that from here. I'll come every day to check on you both, don't worry"

"I'll be ok. I'm a teenager after all. I can take care of him"-he reassured the elemental, earning a small smile from him.

"I'm sure you can"-he nodded, and proceeded to take all the food to the fridge. Then he went back to the living room. He grabbed the medicine and crouched besides Papyrus' sleeping form-"Sans, can you help me? I need you to lift his head so he can swallow the medicine"

"What will it do to him?"-the skeleton asked, unsure. Every liquid thing his father used to give to him ended up making him throw up or just feel awful for days on end.

"It's going to help break his fever and make him a little stronger, since his body is too weak right now"-he reassured him. He could deduce why Sans was so skeptical about this, but he didn't comment on it.

Sans only nodded and did what he was asked. Grillby opened Papyrus' mouth, poured some medicine in the cap of the bottle and gave it to him. He did that twice more, then decided it was enough and left the medicine on the table once again.

"That should do for now. We have to wait for a little while for him to wake up. If he doesn't, then we have no other option but to take him to the doctor"-Sans didn't say anything, just sat on the sofa and rested Papyrus' head on his lap, never taking his eyes off him.

Grillby sighed, realizing he wouldn't get a reply out of him, then proceeded to go to the kitchen to cook something. The kid must be starving. He had been taking care of Papyrus all day and had probably forgotten to take care of himself too.

He could hear Sans saying something to Papyrus, but the only things he could understand had to do with knives and dragons, so he just guessed he was telling him a story. He continued to cook and when he was about call Sans to the table he heard him cry out.

"He's waking up!"

Grillby didn't know if he sounded relieved or scared, but didn't wait to find out. He ran out of the kitchen into the living room and found Sans still sitting with Papyrus on his lap, but the latter was whimpering as if in distress.

"Pap, it's me, it's Sans"-the older skeleton said, trying to calm him down, but to no avail. Papyrus started crying.

"Please, don't hurt me, stop"-he cried trashing around, Sans doing all he could to stop him from falling to the floor and hurting himself even more.

"Grillby, help me!"-Sans begged.

Grillby ran to them, not sure about what to do but finally deciding to crouch and take Papyrus' hands so that he stopped hurting Sans. He realized Papyrus' eyes were still closed, he was frowning and tears were streaming down his face.

"Papyrus, you're safe here"-he said reassuringly, his voice as low and gentle as he could manage.

"It hurts!"-the little monster wept again, not fighting anymore but not calming down. Sans started crying, upset that Papyrus was suffering so much.

"I know, but we're going to help you feel better. Please, can you open your eyes? You're safe"-he repeated, stroking his hands. That seemed to make him settle a little, so he went on doing it.

Papyrus kept quiet for a couple of seconds, then opened his eyes to find Grillby staring at him. Seeing another monster, especially one made of fire, startled him and he sat up, scared. He then realized Sans was holding him by his shoulder and turned to look at him. When he recognized him he threw himself into his arms, hiding his face in the crook of Sans' neck.

"You ok, Pap?"-he asked, stroking the back of the little skeleton's skull reassuringly, still a little shaken but trying to appear collected.

"Who is that?"-he asked, ignoring the question.

"His name is Grillby. He's here to help you"

"Why is he made of fire?"

"He's a monster like us. Some are made of fire"

Papyrus didn't say anything else for a while, probably trying to calm down. Grillby then took the chance to speak.

"Hello, Papyrus"-the skeleton raised his head a little bit to look at him but didn't make any other movement-"I'm here just to make you feel better, I promise. You don't have to be scared of me"

"Why does everything hurt?"-he asked in what almost sounded like a whisper, as if he was afraid to ask.

"You're sick. You have a fever. But I'm going to help you heal. Are you ok with that?"-Papyrus continued to look at him and didn't say anything, which Grillby took as a yes-"How are you feeling?"

"I'm hungry"-he spoke, louder this time. That made Sans smile a little. That meant he was feeling more relaxed now. It seemed that most of the pain had been fear-induced.

"Well, I just finished making Spaghetti. I think Sans was going to cook it for you before but he couldn't"-he looked at Sans, who looked at him grateful for finishing dinner for him-"How do you feel about that? Do you like Spaghetti?"

"I…I don't know"-he admitted, a tint of orange appearing on his cheeks.

"Oh"-Grillby mentally kicked himself. Of course, seeing the condition the kid was in it was obvious that no one had ever bothered to cook him a proper meal-"That's nothing to feel ashamed of. I bet you're going to like it. Come, sit at the table. I'll bring the food"

He went to the kitchen and came back with the plates for both of the children, who sat side by side, Papyrus looking at his feet hanging in the air since they didn't reach the floor yet.

"Hope you like it"-said Grillby placing the plates in front of the children.

Papyrus looked at the fork Grillby had brought for him, confused. He then looked at Sans as if asking what he should do next. Sans quickly understood and started eating, taking his time so that Papyrus could properly understand how to eat.

The younger skeleton turned to stare at his plate once again and after a whole minute finally grabbed the fork and started to imitate Sans movements. His movements were a little clumsy, but that was to be expected. After five attempts he finally managed to get Spaghetti in his mouth and his face instantly brightened.

"This is so good!"-he said, his mouth still full of food, but neither of the older monsters cared. The look on Papyrus' face was everything they cared about.

"It's so much better than the porridge The Doctor gave to me"-he added, taking another mouthful of Spaghetti.

Both Grillby's and Sans' hearts broke. Grillby felt furious that a child had spent all his life eating only insipid food, but Sans felt resolute.

If Spaghetti brought that much happiness to Papyrus, he would make sure to cook it every day, whenever he wanted. He was determined to take care of him.

Papyrus smiled at him, his mouth covered in sauce. Sans smiled back.

He swore on his life that he would do anything to keep Papyrus happy.


	6. Chapter 6

Once Papyrus had finished eating-or, well, once they had ran out of Spaghetti-Grillby and Sans proceeded take out the bandages and put on the splint, letting him sit in the sofa while they were at it to let him be more comfortable. Papyrus seemed skeptical at the beginning, and that was to be expected, but with his stomach full and feeling much better than he had before he didn't complain. Though the monsters certainly pushed his limits when they asked him to drink the medicine.

"No"-he refused for the fourth time. The look on his face was a clear indication that he wasn't going to change his mind anytime soon.

"C'm on buddy, it's not that bad"-Sans said tried to act carefree, but the corners of his mouth twitched with the effort to keep smiling-"I promise it's nothing like what fath-The Doctor used to give to you"-he corrected himself quickly. Papyrus seemed not to have noticed, since he only kept looking straight ahead, ignoring both monsters.

"No"

Grillby sighed, slightly exasperated. This was one stubborn kid.

"Look, Papyrus, you need to drink this in order to feel better. If you don't you'll only get worse and we'll have to take you to the doctor to-"-he couldn't finish the sentence.

"What!? Bu-but S-Sans said"-he stammered, unable to speak properly. He started shaking-"He said I-I didn't have to g-go back to him! H-He promised!"-He was having trouble breathing and Sans' heart broke at the sight.

"Hey, hey"-he sat down next to Papyrus and quickly placed him in his lap again. The little skeleton tried to free himself for a while but when he realized it was to no avail he gave up, while still hyperventilating-"It's true, I promised you that and I will keep that promise. You're not going to see him ever again"-Papyrus looked up at him with fear lingering in his eyes-"This is another kind of doctor. A good one."

Sans looked at Grillby, unsure. After all he didn't have any experience with this "other kind" of doctor. He just trusted that they were good, like Grillby said.

"That is true. Good doctors are meant to heal you, not harm you. I am sorry for disturbing you"-he apologized, crouching before Papyrus-"It was not my intention, I was mearly stating a point. We will try to do all we can to take care of you ourselves, but if you don't take the medicine we will eventually have to go. It won't be bad, but it's not as comfortable as being here. Do you understand?"-Sans had always liked Grillby's voice; it was deep and calm, smooth even. It used to relax him when he was a kid, and he noticed how it seemed to have the same effect on Papyrus, who stared at Grillby for a few seconds before nodding.

"Good"-Grillby made a pause and Sans wondered if he was smiling behind all those flames. He certainly sounded like he was-"I'll bring the medicine"-he walked towards the table and Papyrus took the chance to talk to Sans.

"Is it gonna hurt?"-he asked in a small voice.

"Nah. It's meant to heal you after all, isn't it?"-he heard a soft murmur of agreement-"I mean it, Pap. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

"Thanks Sans"

Papyrus turned in his lap to hug him. At first Sans didn't move, startled, but then he smiled and wrapped him in his arms.

"No problem, kiddo"

That's how Grillby found them when he came back. He stayed a few feet away for a few seconds, not wanting to interrupt the moment, but then decided they could go back to that later. After all, the had all the time in the world. He stepped forward, making his presence clear so as not to startle the little boy.

"Well, Papyrus, I'm going to need you to drink a spoonful of this"-he sat next to the boys; Papyrus hadn't left Sans' lap yet-"It'll probably taste bitter, but it's not that bad. Besides, you're a strong little skeleton. I bet you cand deal with this without problem"-he encouraged him. Papyrus smiled a little; he certainly wasn't used to praise, Grillby noticed.

"Of course he can. He's a tough monster. I bet he'll be a boss one day"-Sans winked at Papyrus, who was grinning at him.

"Ok, are you ready?"-Papyrus nodded, eager to show how strong he was. He even took the spoon and drank the medicine by himself. Of course, his expression changed to one of disgust almost immediately, but he quickly replaced it with security.

"That's great Papyrus"-said Grillby stranding up-"I think you'll be fine again in no time. Now, boys, it's late. Why don't you go to sleep? I'll come back in the morning to check on you and give you more food."

"I don't want toooo"-Papyrus whined, his shoulders slumping. Grillby swore that if he had lips he would be actually pouting.

"C'm on, we have a spare room upstairs. If you go to sleep, tomorrow morning you and I can start remodeling it so it can look just like you want it to."

Papyrus opened his mouth, shocked.

"I get to have a room!?"-he asked excitedly, clapping his hands. Both Grillby and Sans grinned.

"Yep, 'course you do, Pap. C'm on, I'll show you"-he put the little skeleton down and stood up. Then looked at Grillby-"Thank you, Grillby. I think we're ok now"-he smiled, happier that Grillby had seen him in…forever, actually. He nodded.

"It was my pleasure. Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything, ok? You know where to find me"-he then turned his gaze to Papyrus-"It was a pleasure to meet you, Papyrus"

"You too, Grillby!"-he replied, smiling. Immediately after he started tugging at Sans' jacket-"Come on Sans, I want to see my room!"

Sans laughed and looked apologetically at Grillby, who shook his head humorously and proceeded to walk to the door and leave, not before shouting "Take care!" to the boys, who were already upstairs.

"It's not much"-Sans started once they were getting close to the room-"I mean, we're gonna change it, it's not gonna stay like this. I mean it can if you want, but I bet you won't cuz it's pretty dull and, y'know"-he rambled, for some reason finding himself nervous. He really wanted Papyrus to be happy there.

"I don't care Sans, I just want to see it!"-clearly the little monster wasn't aware of how anxious Sans was, which he was thankful for. He was the one who had to be the caretaker, not the other way around.

Finally they reached the bedroom. Sans stood behind Papyrus, his hands twitching slightly while the skeleton opened the door.

Papyrus poked his head in; it was completely dark. Sans was about to offer to go inside and switch the lights on, in case Papyrus was scared of the darkness, but he surprised him by opening the door wide and turning on the lights himself.

"WOWIE"-he screamed, joyful, spinning around with his arms fully stretched, like he wanted to hug the whole room.

"You like it, then?"-Sans went inside. He hadn't been in that room for a long time, and he'd always wondered why it was there since no one ever used it. It was dusty and its colors were dull, but he was glad it existed; Papyrus expression right now meant the world to him.

"I LOVE IT! And I have a bed!"-he ran towards it-"Look, Sans! I have a bed!"-then he threw himself on it-"It's so comfy!"

Sans didn't know whether he should cry because he couldn't believe how happy Papyrus was just by having a bed, or laugh because of the same reason. He settled for the latter. He approached the bed and sat on it, still chuckling.

"Well, it's gonna be even better when we remodel it. I'm gonna try to make it as awesome as possible."-he patted Papyrus' skull affectionately.

"Thanks Sans"-the younger skeleton flashed him a smile, feeling more calm now,

"It's what brothers do"-Sans winked at him. Then he realized what he said and looked anxiously at Papyrus-"I-I mean…"-he tried to think of something to say but nothing came up.

"You're my brother?"-the boy asked tilting his head, curious.

"I-if you want me to. I mean, I just thought that since…The Doctor was the one who created us both, we're kinda…related? But you don't have to feel that way if you don't feel comfortable. It was just a thought"-what was with him and rambling? It seemed like he couldn't stop today.

Papyrus stayed silent for a few seconds, processing the information. Suddenly he grinned and threw himself into Sans' arms.

"Of course I want to! The Doctor always told me I didn't have a family, but now I have a brother! And it's a COOL brother! This is the BEST DAY EVER!"-the skeleton was so happy Sans wasn't sure how such a tiny body could contain that much emotion.

"Well, it's settled then. I'm your big bro now"-Sans grinned feeling happier than he ever thought he could.

"Yes, you are! And I love you!"

Sans had been so wrong. He could feel much happier than he had thought.


	7. Chapter 7

Both skeletons lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, both wondering how could their lives have taken such a turn in such a short amount of time. Papyrus now had people who cared about him, and he was taken care of. Sans suddenly wasn't alone anymore, and he had a purpose; a real one, not just to serve as an experiment.

The latter still had a lot of questions, but he knew it would do no good to ask them all at once. He could live without knowing everything, at least for now. What was important then was to, first of all, get everything back on track.

"Ok, bud"-he said sitting up, his spine making a cracking sound-"I'm gonna go get you some clothes. You can't wear that gown forever"-he winked at Papyrus, who smiled a tired smile. It was obvious that the adrenaline was wearing down, and the exhaustion taking its toll on him-"I'm gonna get you a pair of pajamas so you can go to sleep and tomorrow we'll get you the rest"

He left the room to go to his own bedroom, where he looked for the oldest pajamas he owned; it was still too big for Papyrus, but at least it would do for now.  
When he got back to his brother's bedroom he found him already sound asleep, still laying on the bed but apparently not having found the strength to get under the covers. He smiled at the sight for a moment, then approached Papyrus silently, not wanting to scare him awake.

"Hey, Pap"-he whispered, sitting beside him and stroking his skull softly-"I need you to change into your pajama. Can you do that?"

Papyrus mumbled something that sounded like 'tired', the words slurred half in sleep, and then he turned to his side to be more comfortable. Sans chuckled.

"I know, me too, but you'll feel more comfortable wearing this. C'm on, I'll help you"

With a grumble the sleepy skeleton stood up, his eyes half opened.

"Turn around so I can untie the gown"-once his brother had turned around Sans started untying every knot, noticing his spine had marks in almost every vertebrae. He tried to ignore it as much as he could, knowing that if he didn't it would upset Papyrus, and they were both too tired for that. Once he was finished spoke up-"Now I'm gonna turn around so you can change, ok? Tell me when you're finished"

Papyrus didn't say anything, and kept quiet while putting on his pajamas. He probably was too tired to speak, Sans thought.

"I'm ready"-he heard, and turned around to find Papyrus almost falling asleep while sitting. That made him crack a smile; the kid was too cute. The pajamas were too big for him, like he suspected, but Papyrus didn't seem to mind.

"Great! C'm on, get under the covers"

Once his brother had settled, he stood up, ready to leave. It made him feel uneasy, the need to watch over the little skeleton making him want to stay, but he decided he probably wanted privacy. But as soon as he turned around he heard a small voice calling him.

"Sans?"

He turned around.

"Yeah, Pap?"

"Could you, um…Could you tell me the story again? The one about the bunny?"-he was hiding his face almost completely, but his eyes were visible, showing how hopeful he was.

Sans breathed out, a strange feeling in his chest. He couldn't decide what it was; Relief? Joy? Love? He didn't bother trying to figure it out. He just smiled reassuringly and sat back on the bed.

"Of course. Move a little so I can lie down with you"

Once they were both settled Sans starting telling the story all over again, not minding one bit having to repeat it. He had to change some of the details since he didn't remember everything, but Papyrus didn't complain. After a few minutes Sans started hearing small snores coming from his little brother, but he kept going anyway, determined to finish the story for him. When he was done he could barely keep his eyes open, so he didn't fight the sleep; he was out like a candle in no time.

The next morning Sans woke up alone; Papyrus was nowhere in sight. He stood up as fast as he could, falling to the floor face first in the process. His foot had become entangled in the sheets. He freed himselft and ran out the door.

"Papyrus?!"-he shouted, panicked.

How could he have lost his brother so quickly? What if something bad had happened to him? He ran down the stairs, more than once very close to falling, and he was about to go out to Snowdin when he heard movement in the kitchen. He ran there immediately, opening the door wide.

"Papyrus?"

He didn't expect what he found; Papyrus was sitting on the floor surrounded by opened boxes of food, which was scattered all over the floor. His brother looked up and when he saw him tried to stand up, but slipped with something and fell again. That did it, and Papyrus started crying.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong Pap? What happened?"-he asked sitting next to the child and scooting him up to place him on his lap.

"I just wanted Spaghetti"-the kid cried, letting Sans hug him-"But my bad arm hurt and somehow everything fell and-and-and…"-that was all he could say before breaking down in tears again.

"Shush, shush, it's ok"-Sans whispered trying to get him to calm down-"We'll clean this up, don't worry"

"Please don't send me away"-he begged. Sans swallowed, shocked.

"Of course I'm not sending you away. I just-"

"Then…are you going to punish me?"-the kid looked horrified-"I know I did bad but I promise it was just an accident!"-he seemed like he was having another breakdown. Sans didn't know how many more he could handle watching without his heart actually breaking.

"Pap, I'm not gonna do anything to you. I know it was an accident. You don't have to worry about me hurting you. Please, don't be scared of me"-he knew he was in the verge of tears, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop some of them finally streaming down his face. Had he not tried enough to show him that he was safe now? Did he not do enough?

Papyrus didn't reply, just kept crying for a few minutes until he had calmed down enough to look at Sans.

"I'm sorry…I'm not scared of you. I'm scared of…of doing something wrong and making you not want me here anymore"-Sans tried to speak but Papyrus beat him to it-"I know you're a good monster. It's just…It seems too good to be true. I don't know, I'm stupid. I'm sorry"

"Of course you're not stupid, Pap. You're smart, kind, and the coolest monster there ever was"-the boy sniffed, obviously not believing him.

"The Doctor always said I was stupid. That he didn't expect 'the new one' to be so dumb, just because I always told him he could be a good person if he tried. I know everyone can be. But he didn't believe me"-he frowned-"Maybe I am dumb. You're a lot smarter than me, he said so, though I didn't know he was talking about you then. But that's ok, because you're smart AND cool, so I don't mind being the stupid one"-he smiled, and worst of all a true smile. He seriously didn't mind, and Sans thought he was going to start crying then and there.

How could such an innocent, kind kid have been through that and still hold on to those values? How could he think so little of himself and act like it was something normal? Maybe it was normal to him. But Sans was determined to change that.

"Pap, I promise you, you're not stupid. At all. You understand the world better than anyone, and yesterday you were so strong…Not many people could have dealt with everything that happened like you did. You've been through so much, yet are so good and kind…Papyrus, you're great. And I'm so proud to be your brother"-he finished, managing a small, watery smile. Papyrus beamed at him.

"You really mean it?"

"I do, Pap"

"Wowie! Well…I like being your brother too!"-the child grinned, and Sans had that feeling in his chest once again.

"C'm on, buddy. Let's cook some pasta"-Papyrus stared at him, a confused expression on his face-"Spaghetti"-he clarified.

"Oh! Yes! I'm hungry!"

Papyrus jumped off Sans lap and carefully made his way across the kitchen to where there wasn't food all around.

"Ok, but we have to clean up-"

"That's ok!"

"-and you have to take you medicine"

Papyrus let out a whine and stomped out of the room. Sans laughed wholeheartedly. That kid certainly was something special. And for once Sans was eagerly awaiting what the rest of the day had to offer.

 **Thanks for the support and reviews guys! I really really appreciate it. I moved and have internet once again so updates will keep coming as usual once again (tho I don't think you really noticed it, but my life's been pretty hectic as of late haha). Anyway, again, thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

Once Papyrus had taken his medication Sans started cleaning up the mess, but as soon as Papyrus saw him doing it he immediately ran over to help and ended up cleaning it all on his own. Of course Sans tried to convince him that he didn't have to, but his brother insisted that he wanted to do it with an almost anxious look in his eyes, so in the end he gave up and turned to cooking while Papyrus finished sweeping the floor.

Clearly Sans wanted to eat something other than spaghetti; it wasn't his favorite after all, and having it twice in a row would normally bother him, but seeing Papyrus eat it so eagerly made up for it. He noticed how much he tried to get the hang of using a fork, a frown on his face when he concentrated, but didn't comment on it. He didn't want the kid thinking he just gave him empty praise, so he just ate while his brother battled with the food.

Once they were both finished and Papyrus started to get sleepy again-whether because of his illness or because they just finished eating, he didn't know-he decided it was time to go to Snowdin and get some actual clothes for him since he was still wearing his pajamas and, although Papyrus didn't complain, Sans knew it would get uncomfortable after a while.

He was debating on whether he should wait for Grillby to get there-he was sure the monster was going to visit them, Grillby didn't seem to be one to break promises-or to just go and get him himself, when he heard three knocks on his door. Relieved, he ran to open it, and found the elemental waiting on the doorstep.

"Hello, Sans. May I come in?"-he asked, his deep voice soothing in contrast with the roar of blizzard taking place outside.

"Yeah. Hi, Grillbz"-he stepped aside so Grillby could come in and closed the door once they were both inside.

It was then that he noticed that, once again, Grillby had brought a big bag full of…something. He didn't have time to ask, since the monster was already making his way to Papyrus, who had just discovered the magic of the TV and hadn't taking his eyes off it for almost half an hour.

"Hello, Papyrus"-said Grillby, placing the bag on the table and turning to look at him.

Only then Papyrus turned his head, finally acknowledging his presence.

"Oh! Hi, Grillby! Did you bring more spaghetti?"

Sans face-palmed. Grillby just chuckled, his flames making a crackling sound.

"Yes, although I brought more than just that."-he paused and proceeded to take out everything he had in the bag.

Sans, who was approaching the monsters, stopped dead in his tracks.

"WOWIE! Is that for me?!"-Papyrus jumped quickly off the couch and grabbed one of the jumpers Grillby had brought.

"Yes. I think there's everything you need here, at least for now. There's some shirts, two pairs of pants…"

"What about shoes? Did you get that?"-Sans interrupted, sounding snappish than he intended to.

Grillby looked at him a bit confused at the tone, but didn't ask.

"Yes, of course, but only one pair. I've got another one at home, though I couldn't fit them in the bag, so I'll bring them later"

Sans nodded but didn't make any further comment, just watched as Papyrus struggled to take every piece of clothes in his tiny arms.

"I LOVE IT! Thank you Grillby!"-he looked like he wanted to hug him, but with his hands occupied he just settled for a big grin that got lost in between the pile of clothes. If Grillby wasn't so tall he would probably have missed it.

"It was no problem, Papyrus. How about you try it on now? You can't wear pajamas all day long"-the elemental joked, unaware of the expression on Sans' face  
which kept going from upset to angry and vice versa.

Papyrus nodded eagerly and ran upstairs to his new bedroom, one of the shirts falling on his way there. Grillby laughed quietly, and Sans couldn't help but crack a small smile at his brother's excitement.

"Well, that's going to take a while"-said Grillby humorously, but didn't get a reply. That was strange, to say the least; Sans wasn't one to let the opportunity to make a joke pass-"Sans? Everything all right?"

"Yep"

Sans threw himself on the sofa and started switching channels, not paying attention to any of them. Grillby sighed; he was never good at understanding children, but it was clear something was wrong. He sat next to Sans pretending to watch the TV, but actually wondering how to talk to him. The kid had always been very reserved and really mature for his age, a combination that made it more difficult to get him to speak up when something was troubling him.

"Sans"-he cleared his throat-"I know all this has to be hard for you, and I'm trying to help as much as I can. But I can't do it properly if you don't tell me what I'm doing wrong."-he paused, testing the waters. After a few seconds passed without an answer he was about to give up, but Sans started talking.

"You didn't do anything wrong"-Sans spoke quietly, keeping his eyes fixed on the TV-"It's just that…"-he sighed and put the remote down-"It's stupid"

"If it's bothering you it's not stupid, Sans"

"I just…I wanted to be the one who…you know, bought clothes for Pap"-he crossed his arms, a blue tint covering his cheeks.

"Oh"-Grillby didn't know what to say-"I'm sorry, Sans. I didn't know"

"You don't have to apologize. You spent your money on Pap and I'm behaving like an ungrateful brat"

"It's ok, Sans. I spent that money because I wanted to. I wasn't going to let you spend a coin if I knew I could help. But why did you want to buy him clothes?"

"I-I just wanted him to-"

He couldn't finish the sentence, the high pitched voice of his brother distracting him.

"Look! I got dressed!"-the little skeleton was beaming. He was wearing a pair of blue pants and an orange jumper, his shoes still untied. He skipped all the way to  
Grillby-"Thank you Grillby! I love it!"-then he hugged him, his head reaching barely above the elemental's waist.

Grillby returned the embrace, then glanced at Sans, who was staring at them. As soon as he noticed the monster watching him he turned to look back at the TV.

Oh. That's what that had been all about.

For a second Grillby stood there, unsure of what to do to make Sans feel better, but Papyrus beat him to it.

"Saaaans"-he whined once he had pulled away from the hug. He walked over to his brother, who looked at him questioningly-"I don't know how to tie my shoes. Help me?"-he tugged at his hand insistently, trying to get him to stand up

Sans fought the urge to smile. It was pretty obvious to Grillby that he felt not only happy but most of all, relieved.

"Of course, buddy"-Sans crouched before him and started tying his shoes. When he was done with the first one he turned to the other one, but Papyrus apparently thought he was finished because he started to make his way to Grillby.

"Pap, I'm not done"-said Sans reaching out to grab his arm. But Papyrus turned to face him too quickly and he accidentally ended up grabbing the sprained arm.

That was a mistake.

A piercing scream was heard in every corner of the house. Both Grillby and Sans flinched while Papyrus fell to the floor shaking uncontrollably and sobbing nonstop.

"Oh my God, Pap, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"-he stopped midway, distracted by the few mumbles he could make out in between Papyrus's sobs.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry"-he cried, barely able to breath. Sans looked at Grillby, panicked.

The elemental stood still for a second, wondering what could have gone wrong. What had triggered this reaction? He tried to think but it was hard to when the boy just kept crying, though not because he was being loud but because he was getting disturbingly…quiet

The boy sniffed and shrinked, trying to take deep breaths but failing. He started pleading.

"I won't scream anymore, I'm sorry, please, stop, I won't do it again"-he repeated over and over, eyes closed and apparently unaware of his surroundings.

Grillby rushed to their side and kneeled on the floor, an idea popping in his mind. Papyrus just kept weeping quietly.

"Papyrus, it's ok, you're here, at home. It's Grillby, can you hear me? You're ok"

"Why are you saying that? He knows where he lives, and he's NOT ok"-Sans snapped, which made him feel horrible afterwards but he was too scared to apologize at the moment.

"He's having a flashback, Sans. He thinks he's back…there."-Grillby looked directly at Sans' eyes-"You need to remind him of where he is. He knows you better that me"

"What? Me? But-but how?"-Sans seemed to be hysterical and Grillby knew there was no time for that.

"Talk to him. Say anything that you think will make him know he's fine"-he placed his hand on Sans' shoulder-"Don't be scared, you can do it"

Sans breathed in and out trying to calm himself for a few seconds before he was forced to start talking when Papyrus smacked his arm, fighting whatever he was seeing in his mind.

"I-I…um…Ok, Pap? It's me, Sans. Y-you're here, with us. You're at home. You…You have your new clothes, can you feel it?"-he took Papyrus' hand, which flinched in an attempt to get further away from the monsters, and placed it on his jumper-"See? It's comfortable. And-and there's the TV. Can you hear it?"

Grillby made his flames burn hotter trying to get the skeleton to feel the warmth of his house again. He looked at Sans, astonished at how well he was doing it. Papyrus had calmed down slightly, but kept his eyes closed and still wailed his arms a bit, trying to get free from whatever he thought was restraining him.

"D-Do you remember Fluffy Bunny? You love that story, come on. He was a very fluffy bunny, who lived in a very small house, surrounded by…"-he made a pause, waiting.

"…all his little friends"-finished a tiny voice.

Sans let out a shaky breath. Papyrus still had to open his eyes, but they had made a big progress.

"Yes, Pap, yes. And one day he decided to…"

"…to go and explore the meadow…"

"...to have the biggest adventure. Yeah, Paps, that's right."-Sans smiled a watery smile, squishing Papyrus' hand slightly, trying to get to him.

After what seemed like forever, but was roughly a minute, Papyrus finally opened his eyes, shifting his gaze from Sans to Grillby a couple of times before he settled it on Sans.

"Sans?"

"Yeah, bro?"

"My arm hurts"

Sans tried to laugh, but it got caught in his throat and ended up being more like a grunt. He helped Papyrus up and then he look at Grillby, obviously at a loss on what to do now.

"Papyrus, are you ok?"-the monster asked calmly, trying to keep himself from upsetting the skeletons even more.

"Y-yeah. I think so. I'm sorry, I don't know what happened"-he mumbled, clearly ashamed of his breakdown.

"Don't be silly, you don't need to apologize. You did nothing wrong"-Sans got close to him and hugged him from behind, avoiding touching the injured arm as much as he could.

"Are you sure you're feeling ok, Papyrus? Going through something like that can be really hard."-Grillby insisted.

"I'm fine, really"-he tried to get up, but Sans noticed he was struggling so he helped him. When he was stable Papyrus quickly took a few steps away from his brother, then smiled at the monsters-"Can I watch TV? They've been showing a cool show all day and I want to watch all the episodes I can"-he asked excitedly.

"Of course, Pap"-Sans replied, dumbfounded at how quickly his brother had gotten over the flashback.

Once Papyrus was obviously engrossed in the TV show Grillby signaled Sans to follow him to the kitchen. Confused, Sans did what he was asked.

"Sans"-Grillby started once he had closed the kitchen door-"I'm worried about Papyrus"

"Yeah, me too"-he admitted, jumping and sitting on the counter-"These are getting worse. I don't know how he manages to be so calm after stuff like that"

"The thing is that I don't think he's actually fine, no matter what he says"-the fire monster looked at him with worried eyes.

"Well, he's watching the TV now, right? He seems fine. We just have to avoid upsetting him, that's all"-he shrugged-"Earlier today something like this happened and he was ok after that. I just have to be more careful. I know I can be."-he finished, determined.

Grillby sighed and leaned on the kitchen counter next to Sans.

"Sans, it's not easy like that. He can't be fine after all of that. No one can. And being careful is not going to solve anything, there'll always be a way to trigger reactions like that"-he saw Sans looking at him, scared-"I'm not saying he's never going to get better. I'm just saying that…we can't just pretend that everything's ok. We need to help him. Get him to talk."

"But he doesn't want to. I already tried"-Sans muttered, sounding defeated.

"We'll have to keep trying. He's not talking because he's not used to it. Apparently his way of coping is ignoring the problem; we can't do the same."

Sans didn't reply and when Grillby turned to him he saw he was crestfallen, a few tears escaping from his eyes.

"Oh, don't worry, Sans. We'll help him"-he tried to reassure him, taking his hand and squishing it trying to show him he wasn't alone.

"I know…I just feel so bad because I didn't notice. It's obvious and I didn't do anything to help"-he sniffed, getting rid of his tears with the sleeves of his jacket.

"You're just thirteen Sans, and you're so mature for your age"-he sighed-"But you can't know everything. You're still young"

"I know. I just want to be the best brother he could have"-Sans peeked at him without lifting his head, his eyes brimming with unshed tears.

Grillby smiled sincerely, a reassuring look in his eyes.

"I can promise you, you already are"


	9. Chapter 9

A few days passed without further incidents with Papyrus. Sans was always very careful not to upset him, and Grillby…well, he wasn't with them very much; he still had the bar to take care of. But he would drop by any time he could, whether to give them some food or just to visit and see how they were doing.

Papyrus was getting used to all this "having a home" thing. He still didn't want to go outside, which didn't bother Sans at all since he liked staying at home too, but now at least he didn't ask if he could watch TV when he wanted or if he was allowed to get food from the fridge when he was hungry. He was more independent, which was a relief for both Grillby and Sans.

Sans had promised Papyrus they would redecorate his bedroom, but on the condition that they went together to buy everything, hoping that it would encourage Papyrus to go to the town and get used to seeing new monsters and new places. Unfortunately, Papyrus wasn't at all in a rush; the room he had was more than he could have hoped for before, and apparently he wasn't going to go out until he was sure he was ready. That was good, in a way, but Grillby worried about how long that would take. He didn't mention it to Sans though, the kid had too much to deal with as it was.

After the first week passed Grillby started to think about the future for Papyrus; he needed education and he needed friends. Sans had fortunately learnt a few things from Gaster; the scientist had educated him hoping that he could make an assistant out of him. In the end, although he was a good student, he wasn't interested in all that so he generally didn't do his best when performing experiments and so Gaster gave up on him; of course, experiments performed on him were intensified. But Sans learnt how to cope.

The thing was, Sans knew maths to a degree that Grillby couldn't comprehend, but Papyrus didn't even know how to read. They would have to teach him the basics and send him to school.

Grillby had talked to Sans about him going to school, and although he had agreed, he wasn't very keen on it. If they wanted Papyrus to go, they would have to encourage him, and what a better way to do it than by showing him that his big brother went as well? The best strategy now was to get Papyrus excited about studying with his brother.

"One more time, Pap"

"I'm tireeeed"

"C'm on, you can do it. Just once more, but this time saying them out loud"

Papyrus sighed and started writing again.

"A…B…C…D-"

They suddenly heard the door opening, and Papyrus took the chance to jump from the chair and rush to Grillby's side.

"Hi Grillby! How are you?"-he asked excitedly, a grin on his face.

"Very well, Papyrus. How are your lessons going?"

Suddenly the grin disappeared and was replaced with a frown. Realizing he wasn't about to get a break he stomped back to the table, sat on the chair again, still frowning, and crossed his arms.

Both Sans and Grillby chuckled; they were used to this kind of behavior. While Papyrus was always eager to learn more, he got bored pretty quickly. They had been practicing the alphabet the day before and he wanted to leave after the first five minutes, claiming he knew it by heart. Of course he didn't, and had to sit through about fifteen minutes of him repeating it over and over. He claimed it had been a full two hours.

Now Sans was teaching him how to write, which exasperated the little skeleton even more; at first he was excited, but as soon as he realized he was having a hard time doing it he wanted to quit. Sans was having none of that, and so they had been sitting there for over an hour, around half of it spent trying to get Papyrus to write.

"I know it's tiring Papyrus, but you need to learn this things"-said Grillby taking a sit next to the boy.

"I don't see why. I can live my life perfectly without knowing any of this"-he retorted.

"No, Pap. You'll have to use all of this eventually. All this will help you learn how to read, too"-added Sans, who was starting to feel irritated by the lack of cooperation. It had been a long day, and it was taking a toll on him too.

"I don't want to read. You can read to me"

"Papyrus, you have to learn to do these things by yourself. You can't always depend on other people"-the elemental tried to explain once again. They had already had this talk the day before.

"I have Sans to do all that for me, I don't mind not knowing"

"Papyrus…"-he started again, but was interrupted.

"Well, Papyrus, I can't always be there so it would be good if you stopped making excuses and did something for yourself for once"-Sans snapped finally, the frustration bringing out the worst in him.

He was tired too, and he was doing all this for Papyrus and it annoyed him that he wasn't trying to work with him. But he knew his brother was struggling with learning not just because of sheer laziness, but because of a lot more that he still didn't know. As soon as he saw the shock on Papyrus' face he regretted ever speaking up.

"Oh, Pap, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to speak to you like that"-he apologized quickly, not daring to look at Grillby for fear of what he would read on his face.

"It's ok"-the younger said quietly, his head down. He picked up the pencil and started writing again.

"Pap…"-Sans said in a sigh, feeling horrible. Grillby still didn't say anything and he wasn't about to ask why.

"I'm fine, I'm concentrating"-the child replied, still not looking up. He was writing furiously, highlighting every letter. Sans could perceive little tremors in his hands, and then saw a tear fall on the paper.

"Pap, you're crying"

"I'm not crying"-he dried his tears with the sleeve of his jumper and kept on writing.

Sans closed his eyes, not knowing what to do. What a great brother he was, uh? He knew his brother was sensitive and he had gone an upset him anyway. He stood up, deciding that even if he wasn't the brother Papyrus deserved, or wanted for that matter, he could at least try to fix his mistakes. He finally looked at Grillby, who didn't show him any particular expression, which he was thankful for, and gestured him with a slight shift of his eyes to leave the room. The elemental took the hint quickly and, excusing himself, he stood up and went to the kitchen.

"C'm on buddy"-he picked up Papyrus, who struggled to free himself, sat down and placed him in his lap. Once again, Papyrus fought to get down, but Sans wasn't going to let him-"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I mean…I just..."-he ran his hand over his face, feeling at a loss. At least Papyrus seemed to be listening to him-"I can't always be there for you. That's true. You are your own person and you're gonna have your own life. I can't do everything for you. Trust me, you would get tired of me"-he joked with a hint of seriousness.

"I wouldn't"

Sans smiled, though it wasn't a happy smile.

"You don't know that, Pap. And even if you didn't there'll probably be a moment when you'll need to read, or write, and I won't be there, and you'll be happy to know how to do it"-he noticed Papyrus was about to answer back-"Please, Pap. I want to know you can do this stuff if someday I'm not there. Can you please do this for me?"

Papyrus stared at him for a few seconds before sighing and relaxing against Sans. He knew then that his brother had given up, and relief filled him.

"Thanks, Pap"-he hugged him briefly, trying to convey how much he appreciated him with that little gesture, and put Papyrus on the floor. The boy walked back to his chair, resigned, but before he could sit Sans spoke up.

"How 'bout we take a little break before we start?"

Papyrus' face changed instantly, a big smile making his way to his face, and Sans decided maybe it would be a good idea to take breaks more often.


	10. Chapter 10

Papyrus had fully recovered from his illness and, after one long day of learning how to write long sentences, which proved to be successful and, in turn, filled him with energy, he decided he was ready to go outside and get everything for his room. Sans was happy; it was a big step for his brother. Grillby, for his part, was relieved. He hadn't known if the kid would ever want to go out, with all the trauma and what he'd been through, but Papyrus was proving to be a persistent and determined little boy. Besides, he was curious about almost everything he discovered; this was just one more step into finding out everything the world had to offer. Or, rather, the underground. Still, it was a big place for a monster who had spent all his life trapped in a room.

Since Grillby couldn't go with them because he had to go to the bar Sans was left to take care of Papyrus for all the time they would be outside. And, to Papyrus annoyance, he decided that Papyrus couldn't go out if he wasn't wearing at least two jumpers and one big coat, not to mention two pants and three pairs of sockets.

When he was done dressing him, Papyrus looked like he couldn't even move his limbs. Sans seemed satisfied. He put a little knit hat on him to complete the outfit.

"This is uncomfortable"-the little one complained, trying to get used to all the weight on him. He moved his arms a bit, testing how much he could move them. Not nearly as much as he wanted.

"You'll thank me later, kiddo. Are you ready?"-he winked at him trying to get Papyrus's excitement back up again. He only got a nod that got lost in between the coat he was wearing, but Sans accepted it anyway and took his brother's hand.

They stepped outside together, the wind hitting them with full force all at once. Startled and a bit scared, Papyrus squeezed Sans' hand, receiving another squeeze in return. He looked up and saw his older brother looking at him with a carefree smile; that was enough to make him feel better, and so he was the one who took the first step into the snow. His boots sank a little, which made him stumble slightly before he settled again and took another tentative step.

Sans hesitated, not knowing what the best course of action was. Should he start walking as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening? Should he encourage Papyrus? Did Papyrus need encouragement?

Papyrus decided for him. Once he had taken the first few steps, never letting go of his brothers' hand, he started tugging at it, and turned to him with an impatient look.

"Come on Sans! Don't keep standing there!"

Sans grinned, amused. This kid was certainly something. To be his first time outside he was certainly still acting like he always did.

"Ok, bucko. You lead the way"-he shrugged, and had to stiffen a laugh when Papyrus started walking with his arms extended, since he wasn't able to bend them.

They didn't have to walk much before they encountered the first monster. It was a rabbit lady, who seemed to be walking her…rabbit?

"Hello, Sans"-she greeted him, waving her hand.

Almost everyone knew about him now; people spread all kinds of rumors about him after Gaster died. Grillby tried to make sure people were respectful, but still, some of the rumors he was aware of. Of course, all of this didn't mean he knew everyone.

"Hey"-he replied politely.

He looked at Papyrus, who was staring, not at the lady, but at her little companion. She noticed him staring and, to Sans' relief, instead of asking questions she got closer to them and spoke kindly to the youngest skeleton.

"This is my brother. He's too little to walk by himself yet"

Papyrus' eye sockets widened.

"This is your brother!?"-he cried in surprise as he crouched to look at the little creature better. Sans started feeling nervous. His brother wasn't very much aware of social conventions, and he was afraid he could say something that offended people without him meaning to.

"Yes. He's very young"-she repeated, still smiling.

Papyrus kept looking at the little rabbit for a few seconds.

"He's cute"-he concluded, standing up again after realizing he wouldn't be able to pet him if he couldn't move his arms.

"Thank you…"-she paused for a bit, waiting. Papyrus just stared at her-"What's your name?"

"Papyrus!"-he answered excitedly. He tugged at San's hand again-"And this is my brother Sans!"

The lady looked at them both and smiled, noticing Sans proud expression.

"Oh, so you have a brother too"

"Yes! Do you think he's cute?"

Sans started coughing, choking on his own saliva. The lady laughed, but placed her hand on her mouth to make it less noticeable for the child, who remained oblivious to his brother's embarrassment.

"Yes, he's cute too"-she agreed.

"Ok, Pap"-Sans cleared his throat-"We should keep going, it's gonna get late"-he turned to the lady and nodded, still blushing-"See you later. And…thanks"-he mouthed the last part, smiling apologetically.

The lady shook her head and chuckled.

"No problem, boys. Nice to meet you, Papyrus"

"You too, miss!"-he waved at her excitedly, although she was right in front of him. She laughed again and waved back before resuming her walking.

Sans sighed, throwing his head back. That was the most awkward he had felt in ages. But he didn't have much time to dwell on it because Papyrus had already started walking again, so he took a deep breath and walked with him.

They saw a few monsters on their way but Papyrus was so eager to get to the shop that he didn't pay attention to almost anyone, except those who took the time to say hi to Sans. Or at least that's what he figured. Maybe Papyrus still felt a little uneasy around other monsters, but he couldn't be sure with the kid.

It didn't take them too long before they found a big furniture shop. It was the only one in the underground, so it had almost everything a room needed.

Papyrus quickly understood they had reached their destination and picked up the pace. Sans was sure he would be running in the clothes didn't weigh too much, but he was glad it did. He didn't want him wondering off, not yet at least. Maybe when he was older. He walked beside him, his normal pace matching Papyrus' quick one.

Once they were inside he took off Papyrus' coat. Finally free, Papyrus rushed from one closet to the other, from one library to the other, from…

He stopped dead in his tracks when at the sight of one of the beds. Sans watched him look at itfor a long time before he started fiddling with his fingers. He knew then that that was the one. Papyrus only got nervous asking things when he really wanted them, for some reason. He wondered if it was because if he was denied those things the disappointment would be bigger.

"You like this one?"-he asked approaching him.

"Yeah. It's…cool"-the boy replied quietly, still admiring the car-shaped bed.

"Really cool"-Sans agreed-"If you're sure, then it's yours"-he placed his hand on Papyrus' back.

Papyrus was silent for a little bit before he nodded and turned to hug Sans by the waist.

"Thanks Sans"-he mumbled, his voice getting lost in Sans' shirt.

"No prob, Pap. We're here to get your stuff, after all. C'm on, you still need to pick up a lot of stuff"

They spent around two hours in the shop. It seemed that Papyrus only knew for sure he liked that bed. All the other stuff, well…he took his time to decide. In fact Sans dozed off a couple of times while he waited. But in the end they got everything Pap needed.

Sans was glad Grillby knew the king; he convinced him that Gaster's money should belong to Sans, or, well, him and Papyrus now, since they were Gaster's sons, in a way. Grillby said the king didn't need much convincing but he was thankful anyway. Before meeting Papyrus he thought he would end up spending it all in food at Grillby's; he was glad he found another use to it.

While Sans talked to the shop owner about when they'd get all the stuff, Papyrus kept walking around the shop, bored. He wanted to jump on the beds, but Sans had told him it wasn't allowed. That was boring. What did the employees do all day then?

He wondered to the door and looked outside. Snowflakes were sticking to the glass of the door, not allowing him to see much. He banged his head on it slightly a couple of times, still bored.

He stopped when he heard tapping on the glass. He opened his eyes, confused, and looked down, from where he heard the tapping.

A little yellow flower was smiling at him, waving at him with its tiny leave.


	11. Chapter 11

Papyrus looked at the flower, surprised. He didn't know if it was normal for a monster to be a flower, but he didn't judge. After all, this seemed like a promising way to get rid of his boredom. And they seemed so nice!

He grinned and waved back. The flower appeared satisfied with Papyrus' attention, and proceeded to gesture for him to come closer. He stuck as his body as much as he could to the glass door. The flower laughed and shook its head, then went into the ground, popping up a little further from the shop and gestured again.

Papyrus started fiddling with his fingers, not knowing what to do. Sans was still talking to the shop owner and he didn't know if he was allowed to go. He wanted to, so badly! They were the first monster he met that didn't look intimidating at all, and they seemed like they wanted to know him. He turned around, ready to ask Sans for permission, but stopped dead in his tracks when he realized he was busy signing some papers. He didn't want to interrupt.

So…did he go on his own, or did he wait for Sans?

He turned to look at the flower and try to tell them to wait for a little, but when he did he saw that they were crestfallen and seemed really upset. Noticing his presence, they lifted their head to look at him and moved their leaves in such a way that it looked like they were shrugging, then went back into the ground.

Scared he was about to lose his first potential friend Papyrus quickly opened the door and rushed outside. He instantly felt the cold, having forgotten his coat inside, but he pushed the feeling aside and started looking for the flower in the ground, hugging himself to try to keep warm.

"Hey! Flower! Are you there? I'm sorry!" he didn't know exactly why he was apologizing, but it didn't mind as long as the monster felt better.

He suddenly saw movement under his feet and, startled, he jumped back. There they were. The flower beamed at him.

"Howdy, I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower. Who are you?" he said, still smiling.

"I'm Papyrus!" he replied, happy about finally knowing someone else other than Grillby and Sans. They would be so proud of him, he bet. They always said he needed to get some friends.

"Well, howdy, Papyrus! Why did it take you so long to get out? I was starting to think you didn't want to be my friend" he asked looking sad again, slightly lowering his petals.

"No! I'm sorry, I was going to ask my brother for permission" he was quick to reply "But I didn't want you to leave. Maybe I can ask him now…" he started to turn around, but the flower suddenly popped up in his line of vision. He looked at him, surprised.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's ok. He'd want you to make friends, right?" he winked at him, his tongue sticking out.

"Yeah…I guess…" he agreed, still doubting.

Satisfied with the answer, the flower started tugging at Papyrus' pants with his leave.

"Come on, follow me. I want to show you something cool" he said before it got under the ground and appeared a few feet away from where Papyrus was.

The skeleton stood still a few seconds, hesitating. Sans probably didn't want him wandering off. After all he didn't know Snowdin very well, and didn't want to get lost.

He voiced his thoughts to the flower, who just laughed.

"Don't worry, it'll be just a second and I'll guide you here again. Trust me" he smiled cheerfully, still standing in the direction he wanted Papyrus to go.

That convinced the skeleton. Sans was busy anyway, and if he stayed inside he would still be bored, so how bad could it be to just go away for a little while? If Flowey promised to take him back then it shouldn't be a problem.

"Ok"

He followed Flowey. He seemed to be taking him to the forest, which started to make Papyrus feel uneasy. It was dark, cold, and kind of scary. He didn't like darkness and cold. They reminded him too much of…before. But he didn't want to be scared anymore. He wanted to be strong and brave, and maybe then Sans wouldn't have to be so worried about him anymore.

Maybe this was good. Maybe this could help him be a tougher monster. With this in mind he puffed his chest and kept walking, Flowey popping up occasionally to show him the way, but spending most of the time under the ground.

It wasn't too long after they went into the forest when Papyrus heard some shouting coming from the village. He turned, curious, but once again Flowey appeared in front of him.

"Hey, silly, what are you doing? It's the other way!" he said still smiling, though Papyrus could see the corners of his mouth twitching slightly, as if it took him great effort to keep the expression.

He was about to reply, but was interrupted by a much more clear shout. It sounded like they were screaming…his name. Sans. Sans was screaming his name!

"It's Sans! He's looking for me!" he cried, feeling awful about making his brother so upset.

He started to rush forward but had to stop not long after when he almost stepped on Flowey.

"Oh, boy! That sucks! I wouldn't want to be you right now" he laughed, despite the situation.

"Yeah, I feel really bad! He sounds so scared! Please, I need you to let me go with him" he started to move again, but once more Flowey didn't let him.

"No, not about that, silly! I meant I would be afraid if I were you"

That made him stop trying to get over the flower.

"Afraid?"

"Of course! He's gonna be sooo angry, don't you think? Now, I don't know what he's like, but I'm sure he's going to punish you when he sees you. Everyone does when they're angry" he said, and winked at him "I wouldn't go if I were you"

"P-Punish? N-no, he wouldn't do that" Papyrus shook his head "He cares about me. He…He wouldn't punish me"

The flower noticed he had hit a nerve and smiled smugly.

"Papy, trust me, everyone does that. It can't be helped" he eyed him "I bet you've been punished before, haven't you?"

Papyrus didn't reply, just kept staring at him.

"It's always the same: they say they love you, they treat you right, but in the end in this world it's kill or be killed, Papyrus. No one is truly good, not here" he looked at him with sad eyes "I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you this. I don't want you to be disappointed later, that's all"

Papyrus kept staring, not knowing what to say. He could hear Sans panicked screams from the village, and had this sad looking flower in front of him saying everything was a lie, and he suddenly didn't know who to trust or what to do and he had trouble breathing and he didn't want to be punished but he didn't want Sans to be sad and what did he do now what did he do?!

He couldn't handle it, couldn't take the screams anymore. If he had to be punished then fine, he deserved it, he shouldn't have wandered off and he knew it. It didn't matter that he was scared because Sans was upset and that was worse than anything else.

He started running towards the village following the shouting, trying to calm down in the process. He still was having a hard time breathing, and running didn't help at all, but he needed to get to Sans and having a breakdown now wouldn't do.

He didn't bother looking behind to check if Flowey was following him. He had heard him chuckle after he started running. He didn't even know if they were friends anymore. Was he trying to help him, or did he have bad intentions? He had seemed sincere…But he didn't have time for that now.

Once he got out of the forest he could clearly see Sans running around, talking to everyone he came across in an erratic manner, then proceeding to shout his name once more while looking around. Were those tears in his face? He wasn't sure.

Papyrus sighed, shaking, not just because of the cold. He was resigned to what was to come; he had misbehaved, it was only logical.

Well, at least his brother would feel better.


	12. Chapter 12

Papyrus ran to him but tripped over a small rock and fell, making a small "oof" sound when he hit the snow on the ground. This immediately caught Sans' attention, which made him turn his head around and quickly recognize Papyrus' red jumper. He ran towards him with a desperate look on his face.

"Papyrus! Are you ok? Are you hurt? Where were you?" he asked scooping him up, brushing the snow off his clothes and face.

He wanted to reply, but when he opened his mouth all that came out was a loud sneeze.

"Oh, kiddo, you must be freezing. C'm on, let's get you warm. Grillby's is pretty close, maybe we can get you something hot to drink. Tho it's not that kind of bar but…"

Sans kept rambling, but Papyrus didn't pay much attention to him; he was too preoccupied thinking about what was to come next. Sans seemed worried about him, locking him in a death grip as if afraid he would run off again, besides talking to him nonstop. But that could be just for now. Like Flowey had said, he would certainly be mad afterwards.

The Doctor used to be like that. When an experiment went wrong at first he would be worried that Papyrus was going to die and, therefore, he would have no other way to experiment, but when he figured the skeleton would survive he ended up blaming him for not being strong or powerful enough and hurt him even more. And who knew what his brother was like when he was mad?

On top of this, he not only was going to have to deal with Sans' fury, but also Grillby's. The latter always seemed calm and collected, but he wasn't sure to what extent the elemental could stay that way. Everyone had their limits.

For now, he decided, he would just enjoy the comfort Sans' embrace gave him.

He buried his face in the fluffy part of his brother's hoodie, still hearing his rambling in the background, and wrapped his arms around Sans' neck.

Though he had his eyes closed all the way, Papyrus instantly knew they had arrived to Grillby's when a wave of heat with a strong smell of junk food hit him altogether. He recognized the scent pretty well.

Last week Sans had finally had enough of spaghetti and tried to introduce him to burgers, though it didn't turn out like the older brother expected; Papyrus couldn't even stand the sight of it, noticing with disgust the grease and condiments dripping from its edge. To him it was just repulsing. But that didn't stop Sans from eating it, which annoyed Papyrus to no end. How could his brother consume stuff like that?

But right now, though he still hated the smell, it comforted him in a way. It smelt like an evening home. Plus the heat was making him sleepy, which he didn't like at all in general, but he thought it would be nice to sleep off the conversation he knew was coming. God, how he regretted ever going out.

"Grillby!" Sans called, approaching the counter with Papyrus still in his arms.

Papyrus wasn't looking, his head still buried in the hoodie, but he could hear Grillby's flames crackling loudly.

"What happened, Sans? Is he hurt?" he asked, his usual soothing voice sounding quite distressed and his tone slightly higher than normal. Papyrus could feel him rubbing his back.

Sans hesitated for a moment.

"Yeah, well, I think, but…Can we talk…somewhere else?"

Curious as to why Sans was asking for that Papyrus opened his eyes, instantly closing them as the light of the bar hit his eyes. He blinked and tried again, finally seeing what his brother was referring to; everyone in the bar was looking at them, their conversations abandoned. Apparently a pair of panicking monsters was much more interesting that whatever they had been doing.

Sans started moving again, probably following Grillby. It made Papyrus nervous; where were they going? What were they going to do? Were they going to interrogate him? What should he say?

He breathed in, trying to calm himself down. He knew Sans was a good person, and so was Grillby. Why was he so scared? He knew he shouldn't be. But for some reason Flowey's words didn't stop nagging at his mind. He didn't get enough time to ponder on this.

They got to a room in the back, from which he closed the door. "Now, Sans, Papyrus" Grillby started once they were alone "Would you please tell me what happened?" he asked, his hand behind his back in a relaxed posture, probably just trying to help calm the brothers down

Sans tightened his grip on him. "Well…I don't really know. I was buying stuff for Papyrus and one second he was there but the other he was gone! I had to search for him throughout Snowdin, and out of nowhere he was just...back. Where were you, Pap? Why did you leave?" he tried to break off the embrace but Papyrus held on tight, refusing to talk, and shook his head "Pap, what's the matter? Did somebody hurt you?" he hesitated, but shook his head again.

"Papyrus, we're worried about you. Why don't you want to tell us what happened?"

It was the first time that Grillby's quiet, logical tone annoyed him. And he felt bad about it, but he couldn't help it. He knew what was coming and Grillby pretending to be calm wasn't helping him. When he didn't respond Sans tried again.

"Pap, I don't know what's wrong, but we can't help if you don't say anything. Did somebody try to take you with them? Or…did you wanna go home on your own?"

Papyrus spoke, but it was muffled against Sans' coat.

"What was that?"

"I wanted to make a friend"

The room was quiet for a few seconds before Grillby spoke up.

"Well...couldn't you do that with Sans?"

"They were going to leave if I didn't go with them" he whispered, knowing already that that wasn't a good answer.

"Are you serious? Papyrus, you can't run off to wherever you want when you want without letting me know. I was scared to death!" Sans cried angrily, putting Papyrus on the floor. Ashamed, the skeleton looked down, bowing his head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think that-"

"Of course you didn't think, that's pretty clear! Not even I was dumb enough to wander off with a stranger in a place I didn't know when I was your age! Anything could have happened to you, Papyrus! You could've been kil-"

"Sans that's enough!" Grillby shouted, his voice echoed in the room, the skeleton falling quiet. It was the first time any of the skeletons had ever heard him raise his voice.

The elemental sighed, then spoke in a quieter tone.

"I know you were worried, Sans, but shouting is not going to help"

For a moment the only sound in the room was Papyrus' sniffing and Grillby's flames crackling. Sans kept standing with his arms crossed, obviously furious, which only made Papyrus want to cry more. But he knew he was in the wrong so he tried to stop the tears, though it was to no avail.

"Sans, why don't you go home? I'll talk with Papyrus" said Grillby after what felt like an eternity.

"What? But-" he started to protest, but was interrupted.

"No, Sans. You won't do any good here with that attitude. So, please, go home and try to settle down"

Sans grunted something no one could quite catch and stormed off the room, shutting the door. Papyrus flinched at the noise, but Grillby just ran a hand over his face, then offered his hand to Papyrus.

"Come on, let's sit down"

Hesitantly Papyrus took his hand and let him guide him to a pair of boxes that were in the corner, probably containing food. They sat down, Papyrus' legs hanging. Grillby held the boy's hand with both of his, turning his body slightly so he was facing him.

"Papyrus…I know that this must be hard for you. It's almost like a completely different world for you, and I know you probably want to go and get to know all of it…but you can't. Not right now. Or at least not without us. It's not safe. Do you understand?"

Papyrus kept quiet during Grillby's speech, analyzing his words. He still couldn't decide whether the monster's calm attitude was real or not.

"Yes"

Grillby stared at him without saying anything, as if expecting him to add something, so, knowing he wouldn't make his way around it, he kept going.

"It's just that…I saw this flower and they seemed friendly, but he was outside of the shop and...I swear was going to ask Sans for permission but I saw he was busy and the flower was going to leave and I just…I just wanted to make a new friend" he finished with a defeated sigh, then sniffed and dried a few tears that had escaped his eye sockets before.

"I understand. But it was still wrong to do that, Papyrus. You scared Sans a lot; making friends can wait, but it's not worth worrying us like that"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I didn't think I would be gone for long. But...now Sans hates me and I don't know what to do" he sobbed, no longer having the strength to fight it.

"Oh, no, Papyrus, he doesn't hate you" he scooped him up and placed him in his lap "He's just scared and, well, angry, but he doesn't hate you" he tried to comfort him

"He does. He screamed at me...he never does that! A-and now he's going to punish me" he sobbed holding onto Grillby's shirt for dear life. He felt him tense up.

"What? No one is going to punish you. It was just a mistake, Papyrus. Everyone makes mistakes"

"But he's angry" he retorted

"So? That doesn't mean he's going to 'punish' you. That wouldn't be right at all" said the elemental as if the mere idea was ridiculous.

"It wouldn't?" Papyrus lifted his head to look at him, tears in his eyes.

"Of course not! Who gave you that idea?"

Papyrus wondered for a second if he should tell him, but decided to keep that to himself. He didn't even know if he was going to see Flowey again.

"No one"

The elemental made a humming sound, like he was considering something, then put the skeleton on the floor.

"Come one, let's get you home. I have to go back to work or the customers will take me on a trip to Waterfall" he laughed, but stopped when he caught Papyrus looking at him questioningly.

"I'll explain it to you later"


	13. Chapter 13

They walked to the house, Papyrus holding Grillby's hand tightly. Even though he had calmed down a small bit he still felt pretty shaken. He didn't know what his brother was going to act like; would he pretend nothing happened, like he sometimes did? Or would he still be mad? Would he ignore him?

Grillby must have sensed his nervousness because he squeezed his hand slightly, though when Papyrus looked up the elemental was just staring straight ahead.

They got to the house and Grillby said goodbye, once more reassuring the skeleton that his brother just needed some time to settle, and then left to work. Papyrus went into the house half expecting Sans to be there waiting to scream at him, half expecting to find the house a mess and Sans fuming in the room.

None of that happened. The living room was quiet and tidy, just how they had left it, but Sans was nowhere to be found. Papyrus checked to see if he was sleeping on the sofa, tiptoeing his way to it, but found that he wasn't. That could only mean Sans was in his bedroom.

Papyrus had never gone there. His brother didn't spend that much time in it either, too busy trying to teach him 'important things that would be useful later' all day.

In a way he felt like that was Sans' private space. He only went there during the day when he was too tired and wanted to sleep-which Papyrus didn't understand because how can one get that tired right in the middle of the day?-or they had an silly argument and he needed to calm down. The latter wasn't very frequent since they got along really well and Sans always tried his best to be patient. But sometimes they disagreed which, Grillby told him, was normal between siblings, and they needed to stay away from each other for a while. At first that made him upset and wonder if Sans regretted ever taking him in, but with time he learnt to accept it. They always talked it out and Sans tried to make it up to him.

He didn't know how they were going to do that in this case. Sans had never been so mad. He snapped at him sometimes, but never shouted.

Papyrus rocked back and forth on his heels in the middle of the living room wondering whether he should leave Sans alone or stay there and wait for him to come down on his own. He settled for the first; when he was sad or angry he usually liked people around, so he thought he'd do the same for Sans.

Determined to make his brother feel better he jumped up the stairs and rushed to Sans' bedroom. He hovered outside for a little, suddenly hesitant, but ignored the feeling and knocked on the door. No response. He knocked again, louder this time, but to no avail. After a whole minute-and he counted it-of waiting, he decided to go inside anyway.

The door creaked as he opened it. He poked his head in.

"Sans?" he asked quietly, not wanting to startle his brother. When he received no answer he went inside, carefully closing the door.

He walked to his brother's bed; there he was, a lump lying under the covers, his face buried in the pillow. For a moment he wondered if he was asleep before deciding he wasn't; he had seen his brother sleeping way too much not to know when he was actually asleep, and he had noticed his breathing pattern right now. He was definitely awake.

"Sans" he insisted, demanding a reply. He didn't get one. Resigned and disappointed, he sat on the bed and sighed. He didn't know how to make his brother feel better. He was being ignored but he couldn't find it in him to be mad about it. It was his fault, anyway.

He felt Sans shift slightly and quickly turned his head; his brother was peeking at him with his face still half-buried in the pillow. When he realized he had been caught he hid again, going back to pretending to sleep as if nothing had happened. Now frustrated Papyrus groaned and flopped down besides Sans, bouncing a little bit.

"I said I'm sorry, Sans. I don't know what to do to make you happy again" he admitted with a defeated tone. Sans almost always knew what to say and how to say it, and he couldn't do that for him even once.

He heard Sans take a deep breath before he finally moved to lay on his side, now staring at his little brother. At least that was something, Papyrus thought.

"I know I shouldn't have done that. I thought it wouldn't take long…I just wanted to make a friend"

Sans ran a hand through his face, obviously tired. Physically? Emotionally? Papyrus wasn't sure. His brother looked at him once more.

"I know, Pap. You're just a kid and…you're still learning. That's ok. I was just scared, and I shouldn't have screamed at you. But I'm not that old either, ya know" he laughed humorlessly "Tho I sometimes forget that"

He turned again so that he was facing the ceiling, then put his arms behind his neck, and his brother understood he wasn't going to say anything else about the matter.

Papyrus kept quiet for a while, thinking carefully about what he was going to say next. He didn't want to mess it up. He still didn't know how angry Sans was, which made him miserable. He just wanted him to feel better.

"I-I know how it feels. To be scared, I mean" he clarified quickly, ignoring his brothers' stare and playing with a loose thread on the bed "I'm sorry you felt like that. But I'm ok…and I promise I won't do it again" he finally looked at him with tears in his eye sockets "Just…don't hate me, please"

All of a sudden he found himself wrapped in Sans' arms, pressing him tightly to his chest.

"Of course I don't hate you, kiddo. Where'd you get that idea?" Papyrus didn't know what to do since he wasn't really capable of moving at the moment, so he just let Sans talk "I was scared of losing you, Pap. You're basically the only good thing in my life now. I don't know what I'd do if something had happened to you. I could never hate you."

The youngest brother breathed out, relief filling him finally. He didn't know why he had needed to hear that that much; he knew Sans cared about him, he was always reminding him. But somehow Flowey's words had gotten to him. However, he knew his brother was sincere, so he finally let himself relax.

They kept quiet for a few minutes, silently enjoying the company of the other, until Papyrus started shifting, feeling pretty uncomfortable. Sans chuckled under his breath but let go of him, and both resumed their previous lying positions, staring right at the ceiling.

After a few seconds Sans spoke up "Welp, I don't know 'bout you but I'm pretty tired"

Papyrus groaned and covered his face with his hands.

"You're always tired, Sans!"

"I just really like naps. Wanna try one out?" he nudged him with his elbow, smiling jokingly.

The skeleton considered it for a moment. He hated naps with all his being; it meant wasting precious hours of his day, hours he could spend doing much more interesting things. But he had to admit he felt quite tired, and wasn't really feeling up to doing anything else for the rest of the day. So, swallowing his pride, he shrugged.

Sans' eye sockets widened comically "Wow, really? I didn't think you'd actually say yes" he smiled teasingly "I must be rubbing off on ya"

Papyrus smacked him in the face with his hand, and both of them laughed. Then he turned to look at Sans with an obviously fake sad expression. His brother sighed and closed his eyes.

"What's it gonna be now?"

"Can we finish the book we started last night?"

"But kid, there's still a lot of pages left to read and…"

God, how Sans wish he could say no to that look.

"Get comfortable, buddy"

 **Well guys I guess you can see that it's taking me longer to update now. It's mostly because uni consumes a lot of my time, so for now I think I'm just gonna upload during the weekend.**

 **Thank you for your comments and all the support! It makes me really happy to see that other people enjoy my work.**


	14. Chapter 14

Just like they had been doing with everything else for the past weeks, the brothers moved on from the incident. In some way, it had strengthened their bond even more; Papyrus was more confident in his brother's love and in return Sans, though he still felt the need to keep an eye on his brother every now and then, was starting to trust him to take care of himself more. He knew Papyrus was trying hard to improve and be 'the best monster he could', as he so proudly claimed, and knew he wouldn't run off again. Besides, they were both going to have to go to school soon and he knew they wouldn't be together, so Papyrus ought to be more independent by then.

Grillby had arranged everything so that they started going to school the following month, giving them enough time to redecorate the younger skeleton's room and finish the quick lessons Sans was giving him.

As it turned out, Papyrus didn't really…excel at his studies. He managed to write just fine taking into account that he was new to everything, but he had trouble with numbers and most of all, reading. Sans could understand it, to a degree, but he had talked about the boy's difficulties with Grillby and they had come to the conclusion that that level of struggle wasn't normal. They didn't know why exactly, since Sans could basically be a professional scientist if he wanted to, but for some reason Papyrus seemed to find simple calculations extremely difficult, and he couldn't read very well, no matter how much he practiced. Sans didn't dare ask about it, neither Papyrus nor himself, because he knew that if he did he would probably regret it later. After some time he simply decided to stop insisting on those classes his brother found so hard and moved on to other stuff, trying to avoid ever seeing again the sad look he got when he was struggling to do things right.

What he found out, to his delight, was that Papyrus was really good with puzzles. Anything that required him to think logically, that didn't include math of course, appeared easy to him. He discovered this one day when Papyrus saw him reading in the couch and approached him.

"What are you reading?" he asked sitting down next to him.

"Meh, I don't think you'd like this, kiddo. It's just some old book with problems"

"Problems? How can a book have problems? It's a book!"

Sans chuckled and put the book down on his lap.

"It's a book that has problems in it that you have to solve. You know, they give you some clues and you have to figure out what the answer is"

"Ooooh can I try?" the skeleton asked excitedly, bouncing a little

"Uh, I don't know Pap. They're kinda hard, even for adults"

"Awww come on, please! I want to try" he insisted, trying to grab the book, but Sans beat him to it.

"Ok, ok"

He read one of the easiest riddles-which was still difficult-out loud, and was surprised when after a full minute of silent thinking Papyrus came up with the answer. He double checked the solution in the book, still in disbelief. After that they spent the rest of the day solving the rest of the problems in the book, and they were halfway by the end of the day. Papyrus had solved riddles Sans couldn't even solve himself, and he was filled with pride for his little brother.

From then on Papyrus never stopped solving any kind of puzzle. He didn't really like crosswords since there were too many words and they 'mixed up too much', but he could handle jumble, so Sans took the chance and tried to teach him more through that. Although that worked pretty well, Papyrus still preferred the problems in the book, but had he had quickly finished it and ran out of 'interesting' puzzles to do, which was starting to bother him.

However, the day came when Grillby bought a Rubik Cube for him as a gift for all the progress he had been making. It instantly caught Papyrus' attention and he didn't take his eyes off it since the moment it was given to him, determined to solve it. It had even worried Sans a small bit, but Grillby told him to let it go; it was good that Papyrus had found something he felt passionate about.

"He'll solve it and that'll be it. No need to worry"

And, just like the elemental had said, Papyrus solved it just a few hours later, right before dinner. In fact, he practically announced it, shouting about his success all the way to the kitchen to show his brother.

It startled Sans a bit; he had never heard Papyrus speak that loud before, except for those times he had been in some kind of trouble. And apparently it surprised his brother too, since he covered his mouth with his hands and quickly apologized.

"No need to worry, Pap. You just surprised me"

"I'm sorry anyway" the boy replied with his voice still raised. He frowned, angry at…Sans didn't really know what.

"What's the problem, Pap?"

"I don't understand! I had controlled this! Why am I so loud again?!" he complained, clearly struggling to control his tone of voice, which was still pretty loud.

"What do you mean, control?" Sans frowned too, but in a confused way.

"It's just…! Ugh" he stopped in the middle of the sentence and started muttering "I-I wasn't really allowed to be…loud. Back then" he gestured vaguely with his hands to the back of the house, where the lab was kept intact since Sans had found the boy "But…I have this really loud and annoying voice and he didn't like it so I just had to-you know, learn how to be quiet" before Sans had the chance to say anything he continued, his tone raising again "And I had it under control but now I'm talking like this again and I-I just don't know how to stop!" he rubbed his eye sockets and sniffed.

Sans closed his eyes for a second and sighed, before opening them again "Oh, Pap. C'm 'ere" he crouched and opened his arms to hug his brother, who immediately started to sob with his head hiding between Sans' neck and shoulder "You don't have to keep quiet here, you can be as loud as you want-well, try not to disturb the neighbors, of course" he joked, trying to lighten the mood "And your voice is not annoying at all, buddy. It's not like you're always shouting or something, you're just a little loud. In fact, it's just as cool as you!"

Papyrus lifted his head to look at him and sniffed.

"…Really?"

"Of course! How can you be the greatest monster if you are just a quiet little skeleton? You need an imposing, loud voice to make yourself heard and respected, don't you?"

"I…I guess?"

Sans patted his back in an attempt to cheer him up "So don't be afraid to be loud. If that's your voice, then by extension it's as great as you, and you don't need to be afraid to show it. Ok?"

"Yeah..." Papyrus broke the hug and dried his tears again. He still looked pretty shaken up, but better than before.

Well, that just wouldn't do, would it? Sans needed to see his brother smile again and have him get used to using his normal voice.

"Now, what did you want to show me?"

"Oh! Yeah!" the boy winced a little at his voice but noticed the relaxed look on Sans face and, more confident, picked up the cube that had fallen to the ground before, forgotten "Look! I finally did it!"

Sans took it and plastered a shocked look on his face, though in fact he was indeed surprised that it had taken him so little effort "Wow! That's amazing!"

"I know! Though it took me too many hours to do it" his face fell a little, but he tried to mask it.

"Are you kidding me? People spend weeks trying to solve this, even months! Pap, you're really clever"

"Y-you think so?" the skeleton asked with a joyful smile on his face.

"Yeah! Heh, I don't even think I could solve it. It would take me too long"

"That's because you're lazy" he said pushing him playfully.

"Meh, can't say I'm not" Sans shrugged and Papyrus laughed for a few seconds before going quiet.

"I don't know what to do now. I solved every riddle in the book and now the cube…"

"Well, you could always try again, right? I can switch it all over and you try to solve it"

The boy chirped happily and pushed the cube into his brother's hands.

"Hey, hey, not now" Papyrus' face fell "Aren't you always the one who tells me to eat? C'm on, the spaghetti will be cold by now. Then" he kept going, noticing Papyrus trying to talk "you're going to bed, tomorrow we'll finish redecorating your room and after all that is done you can play again, ok?"

Papyrus crossed his arms and stomped his foot "You're such a bummer" he muttered before leaving the room.

Sans just chuckled and followed him, by now used to his brother's behavior. He wondered if Papyrus would like the idea of making his own puzzles one day. Maybe he'd ask him later.


	15. Chapter 15

Sans glanced at the wall clock for the second time in the last 5 minutes, then proceeded to sigh and look back at the front of the classroom. His chair felt oddly uncomfortable, but it could be because his bones were just as hard as it was. He missed his couch.

It was the first day of class and he couldn't wait to go home. He hadn't known how anxious he felt in the outside until he had to spend five hours at school. Not because of his classmates; they were nice to him, or at least the majority. There were a few who whispered to each other about the new and weird skeleton, and of course there were the ever present rumors about his father and what happened to him. He didn't pay attention to them, he had grown used to it the last months, but it made him wonder about how Papyrus was doing on his own, and that's what made him worry.

The little skeleton had seemed very nervous about meeting new people that morning, though Sans noticed he had tried to appear excited just to appease him. He knew better. Sans wasn't sure it was the right time for Papyrus to go out to a new environment like this, but Grillby kept telling him that he wouldn't make any progress if all he did was stay inside, and neither would Sans, so he agreed to give it a chance.

That didn't stop him from worrying, though. He felt very protective of his brother and not having him around to make sure he was ok made him feel uneasy. The kid was really happy about making new friends now that he had found out that most monsters were nice to him, but he was still a bit shy and Sans feared that it would make him a target for bullies.

He shook his head to put those feelings aside and tried to concentrate on the class, which seemed impossible given that it was math and he couldn't help but get bored. He knew everything the teacher had taught since the class started, and every little movement or thought distracted him from listening. He looked around trying to find someone who seemed to feel the same way, but every other student was either making notes or looking at the board like they didn't understand a thing.

Sans stifled a yawn. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, too worried about what was to come the following day, and to make matters worse he had had to get up early that morning. He wasn't used to this at all, and having such a boring class at the end of the day didn't help at all.

He laid his head in his arms and closed his eyes, deciding he could treat himself with a little nap right now. After all he didn't need to pay much attention.  
After what felt like just a second of rest, a high pitched voice next to him woke him up with a start. He looked up to find the teacher glaring at him, her arms crossed. He swallowed. What a way to make a first impression.

"Were you sleeping in my class?" she asked, fuming.

Sans stuttered an apology, but that didn't seem to make things better.

"What, is it not interesting enough? Or do you feel privileged? Because let me tell you young monster, here there's no privileged students, no matter who their parents are."

"N-no! That wasn't what I-" he looked around to find some students giggling, while others just looked pissed. He could feel himself start to sweat.

"I hope you were paying attention" she walked to the front of the class "because I want you to tell me the answer to this" she pointed at an equation on the board.

"B-but Miss, I-" he tried to apologize again, but she interrupted him.

"Give me the result, Sans"

At the harshness in her voice he looked at the board. He didn't even have time to wonder whether he should answer correctly or not, if that would make the teacher angrier, since he suddenly found himself in the lab, the furious glare of the teacher turning into the empty stare of his father.

"1/3" he replied monotonously, wide eyes staring straight ahead.

The teacher looked startled at him. After blinking a few times she reached for a paper on the desk and looked for the solution, lifting her head just to look at him in awe. She was about to say something when he spoke up.

"Is that correct?" he asked with the same tone, not an inch of his body moving.

"I-um, yes, Sans" she mumbled, still shocked.

"Do I need to perform any other test?"

At this the teacher quickly caught that something was up with the kid. His gaze didn't waver for a second, and his attitude had changed drastically from anxious to expressionless all of a sudden. All anger put aside, she approached the child slowly, trying not to make a scene in front of the other students, who appeared really interested in the exchange.

"Hey, Sans" she said softly, laying her hand on his shoulder to give it a light squeeze.

Sans instantly looked at her in an apparent state of panic, which quickly turned into a confused gaze.

"Are you ok?"

He didn't need to look around to find the other children staring at him, and the worried expression of the teacher only made him feel worse. Embarrassed, he nodded quietly and turned to look at his desk, feeling himself start to blush. After a moment of silent thinking, feeling uncomfortable under the stares of whole class and the presence of the teacher besides him, he asked in a small voice:

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Yes, sure" the teacher wondered if she should dismiss him, or even the class altogether, but she knew children tended to not want that much attention when they had had an accident or a bad day, so she decided to try to act like nothing happened and keep the class going.

Sans stood up, rushed out of the classroom and ran to the bathroom, where he stood in front of the mirror for a moment before he washed his face with cold water, trying to clear his mind.

God, that had been disastrous. Now everyone would think he was even weirder. He had never had an episode like that; the memories only came back as nightmares, never while awake. Well, at least he hadn't made much of a fuss, but he was sure that now the teacher would probably treat him like he was about to break every second. He knew he wouldn't be able to stand her treating him differently because of that embarrassing scene; he wasn't a 'special case', he just wanted to be a normal student. It seemed like he wasn't about to get his wish granted. It was just a matter of time before the whole school knew about that episode.

He sighed, looking at his reflection in the mirror.

At least he wished Papyrus had had a good day.

Sans didn't dare go to class again. Would that get him into trouble? In fact he hoped so, at least then he would be treated like any other student. With that in mind he locked himself in the bathroom until he heard the bell and had to leave to fetch his brother.

They had put Papyrus in third grade since they had to simply guess his age; the boy was oblivious to the fact that people actually kept track of how many years they had been alive. While that was inconvenient, Sans didn't dare say anything about it. The headmaster had asked a few questions to the child to test his knowledge, and was surprised at the ignorance to what was basic stuff to the rest of the monsters. She dismissed it, though; said it was just a matter of time before the kid caught up with the rest of the students.

He just wished they had guessed right and that Papyrus got along well with his classmates. Sans was sure he would do just fine. Papyrus was always eager to be better, and it would probably still be the case regarding friendship; he would probably overcome his shyness in no time.

He rocked back and forth on his heels outside the school while he waited, but after ten minutes passed and there was no sign of Papyrus he was ready to go inside and look for him. He started to walk towards the building when he caught sight of an orange jumper and he instantly knew that it was his brother. He made his way through the waves of people that were still leaving the school and finally found the skeleton.

"Hey, buddy" he greeted him taking his hand and trying to get them both out of the sea of monsters "How was your first day?"

"Fine" was the quiet reply he got.

That made him stop to a halt and turn to properly look at his brother, and then he actually saw the state the boy was in; he had a death grip on the schoolbag and was visibly shaking, though he kept a monotonous expression on his face.

Sans closed his eyes and sighed. Welp, there goes his other wish.

"What happened, buddy?" he asked and started walking again, trying to get his brother out of the crowd to get somewhere they could talk without having anyone eavesdropping.

"Nothing" said Papyrus trying to hide his face from Sans' view.

"C'm on Pap. You know you can tell me" he insisted squeezing his hand, a gesture he knew usually helped encourage his brother.

"I-I…Can we talk when we get home?" the boy asked, looking at him with unshed tears.

"Yeah, of course, Pap" he paused and finally stopped to turn to him "Do you want me to carry you?" he offered, noticing the way the kid was almost dragging his feet.

Papyrus nodded and Sans quickly scooped him up, feeling his brother's tiny arms wrapping around his neck. He felt his jacket getting damp around his shoulder and had to suppress the need to cry himself. What a shitty day.

Fortunately they didn't live too far from the school and in just ten minutes they were at the porch. Sans fumbled with his keys while trying to keep holding Papyrus, and he only put him on the floor once they were inside. The younger brother dropped his bag in the middle of the living room and quickly made his way to the couch.

Sans picked up the bag and put it on the table. Papyrus was always telling him to keep the house tidy, and now that the boy himself didn't care about it…well, Sans would try to play that part himself until he felt better.

He walked to the couch and sat next to his brother, who was laying on his side and hiding his face in the only pillow they had for that couch.

"Wanna tell me what happened now?" Sans started, stroking the child's back.

"No" was the muffled reply.

"C'm on, why not? It can't be that bad"

"Yes, it can"

"Ok, how 'bout this: I'll tell you about my bad day if you tell me about yours"

That made Papyrus finally lift his head.

"You had a bad day?"

"Yup" he wasn't exactly excited about talking about it but if that's what it took to get his brother to open up, then so be it.

"What happened?" the boy sat properly and looked at his older brother with curiosity and a glint of worry in his eyes.

"Oh, no, no. I'm not telling you until you tell me" Papyrus grunted and crossed his arms, annoyed "C'm on, kiddo. Please. I just want to help"

Papyrus sighed and uncrossed his arms, burying the back of his body in the couch as much as he could before he started to talk.

"It's-I just-" he stopped for a second to collect his thoughts and started over "It was ok, at first…I mean, no one was mean to me and…no one said anything about my voice" oh, right. That had Papyrus really worried the day before school "But when the teacher came in she…She wanted me to read out loud"

Sans didn't need to hear anything else; it was obvious what had gone wrong. But he let his brother speak.

"I tried! Really! I tried really hard, I swear" he started sniffing and Sans was quick to pick him up and sit him on his lap "B-but I kept stopping and stammering and she got mad and said that I was doing it on purpose just to be funny. I wasn't, Sans!"

"I know, bro, I know" he shushed him hugging him tightly to his chest.

"And I got upset and then the other kids started to laugh at me when I tried to read again and then during the break they made fun of me and I-I just wanted to make friends, Sans" he said just before he started sobbing.

"Oh, Pap" was all Sans could say, feeling himself on the verge of tears.

They hugged each other for a few seconds, trying to find comfort in the embrace.

"I don't wanna go to school anymore" cried Papyrus, his sobs muffled in Sans jacket.

"Me neither, kiddo" he admitted quietly, resting his head on the top of Papyrus' skull.

That's how Grillby found them when at the end of the day he went to check on them. He was hoping the skeletons had made some friends at school so maybe  
then they could become a bit more sociable, but as soon as he went inside the house he was met with the sight of Papyrus sleeping in Sans' lap, both of the skeletons with tear strains on their face.

The elemental closed his eyes, pained. He just wanted the kids to be happy for once.

Sans looked at him like he understood what the monster was thinking and lowered his head, taking a shaky breath.

Grillby approached him, deciding that for now the only thing he could do was comfort his boys.


	16. Chapter 16

Grillby took a sit next to Sans trying his best to keep quiet to avoid waking Papyrus up. He looked at the skeleton, who appeared to be putting all his effort into not seeing the elemental eye to eye. Grillby thought about telling him that he already knew they had been crying, both of the boys, but decided against it; that'd probably only lead to Sans shutting him out. Instead he kept quiet, concluding that it would be best if he let the kid take his time and talk when he felt ready.

After a few seconds of silence Sans finally turned to look at him with curious eyes, wondering why the flame was so quiet. He found him looking at him, but not in an intrusive or pressuring way, but like he was only waiting. He looked down at his brother again and hugged him closer to his chest, the younger skeleton not even stirring, and sighed, deciding he didn't lose anything by talking.

"He had a bad day" he muttered, not taking his eyes off the small body in his lap. The elemental didn't say anything, just kept on staring at him.

"The teacher thought he was pretending that he couldn't read…And some kids bothered him afterwards" he explained.

Grillby made a humming sound as if processing the information.

"And what about you?" he asked quietly. Well, he always spoke in a quiet tone. Sans appreciated it.

The skeleton looked at him with a frown. "What?" he didn't need an answer to know the fire elemental knew that he was upset too. "It's nothing. I'm just worried about Papyrus"

"How are you going to help him when you don't know how to help yourself?"

At first that made the skeleton furious. Papyrus was more important right now, how could he focus on himself when his brother needed help more than him? But then he thought about it and, frustrated, accepted that Grillby was right. He didn't know what to do with himself, so how could he be able to help his brother?

"But I don't know what to do! He needs me right now, how can I help both of us at the same time?" he asked, pleading for a solution with his eyes.

"Well, maybe he can help too…If you let him" the monster suggested, his face as unreadable as always.

"I don't want him to carry the burden of my problems too, he has enough. I'm the big brother, I should be the one dealing with this"

"Sans, you have to remember that you're still a kid too. You can only do so much. Besides, being brothers doesn't mean the older deals with all the problems, it's give and take here. But, more importantly" he put his hand on Sans' shoulder "you know that if you need anything you can come and ask me for help, don't you? I may not be your father, but I'll gladly play that part when it comes to problems like this. Ok?" Sans nodded slightly, crestfallen "Never doubt that. I'm always here to help both of you, even if I'm at work you can come to me and I'll be happy to help."

"Thanks Grillby" the boy whispered turning slightly to snuggle on his shoulder, not letting go of his brother

"No problem, Sans" he hugged the child close to him "Now, how about you tell me about what happened to you today?"

Still a bit reluctant, Sans told Grillby about his episode at school. The elemental listened intently, not interrupting even once, which allowed Sans to speak as much as he wanted to. When he was done Sans had to admit he felt better, though now he couldn't help but feel scared about what was to come. He had never had an episode like that happen, neither with his father nor with Papyrus, so he was afraid this would become something usual. When he voiced his thoughts Grillby was quick to reassure him.

"Don't worry about that, Sans. What happened was completely understandable given the circumstances. You tend to forget that even though Papyrus suffered a lot, you did too, even if not to that extent. It's going to have repercussions, but you don't need to feel scared "he added when fear settled into the boy's eyes "this stuff can go away, you can get better. For that, I do recommend you both see a therapist. Do you know what that is?" Sans shook his head "It's someone you see that listens to you and gives you advice with your problems and issues"

"But I don't want anyone to know about what happened to us" he said frowning, fearing that Grillby would go and tell other people about their story.

"That's ok, you don't have to go now. I'm only suggesting it because otherwise it's going to be hard to move on for both of you, especially if you take into account that you're still very young" Sans kept silent, frown still present "Don't worry, I won't force you to do anything you don't want to. But if this gets worse I want you to tell me and we can see what we do about it, ok?"

"Yeah" was the quiet response he got. Grillby knew he wasn't going to get more information than that so he changed the subject.

"Now, Sans, going back to Papyrus" this seemed to catch the boy's attention "I had been thinking about this before, but I wasn't sure if you both were ready for that"

"What?" the skeleton asked impatiently.

"We both know Papyrus struggles a lot with learning-"

"Papyrus is super smart!" Sans retorted, offended that the monster suggested otherwise.

"I know, Sans, I know" he assured him "What I mean is, you know he has trouble reading and with history, right?" Sans nodded reluctantly, not wanting to be part of anything that suggested his brother wasn't perfect "Well, there's schools for kids like that. That have trouble like he has and that lets children learn at their own pace, always trying to get them to catch up with other children their age"

Sans hummed "That sounds…fine. I think that would help Papyrus"

The elemental's flames crackled happily.

"I'm glad you think like that. Maybe it would be good for Pap to go there until he's caught up with basic knowledge for his age and then he can go back to your school"

"B-but wait. Where is this school? Is it near mine?" he asked worried. Grillby run his hand over his head nervously, flames disappearing under his fingers.

"Well, it is quite…far. Of course, the underground it's that big anyway, but…well…It is in Waterfall"

"WATERFALL?" he cried, furious, forgetting completely about Papyrus sleeping in his arms. Of course the boy couldn't stay asleep after that.

"What?! What happened?!" he asked, hysterical after being woken up so suddenly.

Only then Sans realized his mistake and he was quick to calm his brother down.

"I'm sorry Pap, I shouldn't have shouted. Go back to sleep, everything's fine" he stroked his brother's arm, glaring at Grillby from the corner of his eyesockets.

The elemental closed his eyes, knowing it'd be hard to convince Sans, so he turned to Papyrus for help.

"We were talking about school, Pap" he told him, ignoring the older skeleton's deathly look.

Papyrus pouted and frowned slightly, still upset. "I don't wanna go anymore" he admitted quietly, hiding again in his brother's embrace.

"I know, Pap. But I know you still want to learn, so I had an idea. Would you like to hear it?" the boy nodded "Well, there's this school that helps kids that have some problems with reading like you do, and other things too. Some children have problems with maths, others with writing…But well, they could help you catch up with your classmates"

"Oh" was Papyrus could come up with. There were other kids like him? He wasn't the only one?

"Would you like to try to go there for a few days and see how you do?" Grillby insisted

"It's too far away, Grillby, and you know it" protested Sans, feeling ignored. He wasn't ok with this and Grillby was paying no attention to him.

"It is?" Papyrus asked, looking up to his brother, hesitating now that he knew his brother didn't like the idea.

The elemental sighed, frustrated "No it isn't Papyrus" he stood up and walked towards the kitchen "We'll talk about this in a second, but now, Sans, would you please come here? I need your help with something" he made a small gesture to get the skeleton to follow him.

Knowing what was coming Sans placed his brother on the couch and stood up "I'll be right back Pap" he mustered, fuming as he followed Grillby into the kitchen. The elemental was waiting for him resting his back against the kitchen counter, his face hidden in his hands.

"Sans, you know Papyrus won't agree to anything you don't like" he said turning around to face the angry teenager.

"Yeah, and that's great actually" the skeleton retorted, crossing his arms, his gaze fixed on the elemental's face.

"No, it isn't. Papyrus is still young and very impressionable; you need to think about what you say, and do what's best for him, not for you"

"I'm thinking about him!" he shouted, then covered his mouth. The last thing they needed was Papyrus thinking they were fighting because of him. He spoke again, quieter this  
time "It's not safe for him to go there"

"Why not? You can take him there and then fetch him, if you feel more comfortable. I can do it if you won't, but I know you'd prefer that."

"You're made out of fire anyways" the kid hissed, still not convinced.

"That too" Grillby stepped towards Sans "Sans, I know it's hard for you to be away from him like that. But it won't be a problem, I promise. Waterfall is a few minutes from here, and he'll be inside the school, not wandering around."

"I know that! I just…" he huffed, crossing his arms tightly to his chest "What if something happens and I'm not there?" he rocked back and forth on his heels, suddenly feeling more nervous than angry.

Grillby had known from the start that that was the problem, so he wasn't surprised when the boy voiced his fears. He crouched until he was the same height as the skeleton, his flames crackling subtly. "Nothing's going to happen. There are a lot of guards around to help if something actually goes wrong, but nothing's ever happened around there, and nothing is going to happen suddenly just because Papyrus starts going there. He'll be ok. Besides, he needs to start making some friends, and he can't do that if he's not willing to go to school, right?"

"Yeah" he agreed uncrossing his arms "You're right. And he needs to learn…at his pace, like you said"

"That too" Grillby nodded, relieved that Sans was finally accepting his advice.

The skeleton fidgeted with his fingers "I'm sorry…about the screaming earlier" he apologized, downcast.

"Don't worry. Papyrus is lucky to have a brother that worries so much about him" he reassured him, getting a shy smile in return.

"Come on, let's see what Papyrus thinks" Sans nodded and rushed outside, nervous as to how his brother would take the news.

Grillby sat next to the small skeleton, who had been waiting for them while watching some cartoons. Of course, as soon as he was told where the school was he turned to look at Sans with insecure eyes. His brother gave him a thumbs up, and nothing else needed to be said. Papyrus agreed, excited about meeting people that struggled like he did, and not having to deal with "mean monsters".

That settled it, then. Grillby would make sure Papyrus could go to class as soon as he could. He'd have to talk to the authorities and have the kid tested, which he hoped wouldn't bother him too much, but hopefully by the end of the year Papyrus would catch up with monster history and read much better than he did now.

However, he did promise Sans he would still ask him to read to him at night. "I don't want you to feel sad about not reading to me anymore" he had said. Sans wouldn't have it any other way.


	17. Chapter 17

Almost a week went by without neither of the skeletons going to school; Papyrus because Grillby was still going through all the procedures of getting him in, and Sans because he wasn't about to let his brother alone in the house. The elemental had tried to convince him otherwise, but the skeleton wasn't about to change his mind. He would be there for his brother in any way he could, and if that meant skipping some classes, then so be it.

Friday came by and Grillby came by, as usual, with some more food for the children, having noticed the last time he was there that they were running out again. After they had put everything away he asked the kids to sit with him at the table, and finally told the brothers that he had talked to the school and they had said that Papyrus had to do a little test, just to know how he was doing and to sort out where he belonged in the new school. That seemed logical to Sans; they should have done that in his school in the first place, but Papyrus seemed a bit shaken by the prospect of an actual test. It figured, since he was always striking to do his best, and having someone tell him he wasn't good enough – Well, Papyrus had had enough of that for a lifetime, and Sans wasn't about to let his brother feel bad about himself anymore.

Grillby had to leave for work after giving them the news, which Sans was thankful for. He wanted some time to talk to his brother. Once they were alone, Sans  
scooped Papyrus up and carried him to his bedroom. The little one didn't complain, probably still deep in thought. Much to his annoyance Sans struggled a bit climbing the stairs; his brother was small, but he had gotten heavier after some weeks living with him, and anyway Sans wasn't used to any kind of exercise. He stumbled and that seemed to get Papyrus' attention.

The smaller skeleton tried to free himself from his brother's grip "Put me down, Sans! I can walk!" ignoring him, his brother shook his head and kept on climbing the stairs "Why are you doing this?!" he whined, kicking Sans slightly in his ribcage, not enough to hurt but to make his point across.

"Can't I be a good brother for once?" he joked, finally reaching the top of the stairs "See, that wasn't so bad"

"I'm a big monster! I know how to walk!" he protested, but stopped struggling. He knew better than to try to be stronger than Sans.

"I know, yeah, but sometimes one likes to be coddled, right? You spoil me everyday"

Papyrus sighed dramatically "That's because you're too lazy to do things yourself"

"Maybe. But you like to do it, and I like doing absolutely nothing. It's a win-win situation, buddy, and it's time I do that for you" he carried his brother inside his bedroom and tucked him in his brand new racecar bed. Once he knew for sure Papyrus wasn't standing up and trying to leave he allowed himself to lie down next to him.

"I still don't know why you're doing it, but I'm letting you just to appease you, ok? I'm a big boy, I don't need coddling"

Sans closed his eyes, his hands intertwined over his chest. Papyrus tended to do that a lot. Although Sans had tried as hard as he could to let him know he was loved and appreciated, his brother still felt the need to prove that he wasn't a liability and that he didn't need everyone looking after him. He was still young, but trying to grow up fast, and every time he came across difficulties he wanted to deal with them on his own. Sans knew he needed attention, someone to take care of him, and he tried to do that as much as he could before Papyrus thought it was too much. At least he had managed to make compliments and praise a daily occurrence, and Papyrus didn't seem to mind them one bit. Coddling him like this was another matter completely.

He turned his head and smiled lazily at his brother "Everyone needs a little love every once in a while, right?"

Papyrus looked at him for a few seconds before turning to look at the ceiling, silent. Knowing how stubborn his brother was, Sans decided it was time to talk about what he knew was bothering Papyrus.

"So…That test's getting closer, huh" he shut his eyes, instantly mad at himself. God, that was stupid. Try to make your brother more nervous, great idea.

Papyrus nodded absently "Yeah"

Sans waited a few seconds before speaking again "Nervous?"

He glanced at Sans and stirred slightly "Um – A little bit. Nothing I can't handle"

"Heh, I wouldn't doubt it for a second. You can handle anything, Pap." he winked at his brother, thankful that he had chosen to be honest, at least a little bit. He knew Papyrus felt more anxious than he showed, but he knew he was trying to be more open about how he felt "I would be nervous too"

"You're smart, what's there to be nervous about?" he asked with genuine curiosity. Sans frowned slightly, his ever present smile dropping a bit at the edges.

"You're smart too, so I should ask you the same question"

Papyrus frowned and crossed his arms over his chest "It's not the same"

"It is"

"It's not"

"It is"

"It's not, Sans! Stop that" he retorted as he rolled over to his side, leaving Sans to face his back.

Sans smiled, noticing right away that this was just his brother sulking childishly and nothing too serious. That happened pretty often lately; Papyrus got mad that Sans didn't do anything and in turn ignored him for hours. He knew how to deal with that.

"Yes, it is!" he got on his knees and rolled Papyrus over so that he was facing him "You know I'm right. Admit it!" To his delight a few weeks ago he had discovered that Papyrus was a very ticklish kid, and he took advantage of that as much as he could. So he did exactly that; he started tickling his brother at full force and in return he got that loud giggle that never failed to make his day.

"Sans! Stop it!" he laughed trying to push him away, but they both knew Sans was stronger.

"Not until you say I'm right!"

"But you – Ok ok you're right! Stop! I can't breathe!" he giggled as Sans finally retreated. The brothers stared at each other, smiling. After a few seconds Sans chuckled and slumped down in the bed, making Papyrus bounce slightly.

Papyrus grinned at him "Thanks, Sans"

"No problem, buddy. You know I'm always here to make you laugh" he nudged at him with his elbow playfully.

Papyrus turned and laid his head on Sans' chest "I know" he paused for a few seconds "I needed that. And…Thanks for thinking I'm smart" Sans opened his mouth, ready to rant about how awesome he thought his brother was, but Papyrus cut him off "I know, yeah, I know what you think about me. And I appreciate it. I just – I know I can't do stuff that other kids can. I've seen it. And that's ok now that I know I'm not the only one – But I'm still worried that there are other things I can't do that I don't know about and that teachers will think I'm dumb when they see my test"

Sans looked at him with worried eyes "Pap, the purpose of that school you're gonna go to is just that: to help you get over those difficulties. It's not your fault that you find some stuff harder than some kids; you know they haven't been through even a tiny bit of what you have. But you're clever, bro, and I know you're gonna do great there. Maybe you won't do perfectly in that test, but by the end of the year I bet you'll be the best of the class. You can do anything, Pap. You're great."

"You say that a lot" Sans shrugged. Papyrus grinned and hugged him "Thanks Sans. You're great too" Sans was about to say something but Papyrus beat him to it

"You're the best brother ever"

That did it for Sans. Since he found Papyrus all he ever wanted was to be the best brother he could, and having him say that was everything he had hoped for. He returned the embrace, hugging him tightly to his chest, and sighed with a mix of happiness and relief. His eyes felt itchy, but he ignored it and just smiled, content.

They stayed there for the rest of the evening, enjoying the presence of one another.


	18. Chapter 18

Papyrus swung his legs nervously while waiting outside the principal's office. Sans had been giving him encouraging words for a while now, holding his hand while sitting by his side in the waiting room, but none of it was working. This exam was important, at least for him, and he had messed it all up. He had taken too long to finish it and had to even ask for help to read some of the tasks. The teacher had been really nice and treated him well, deciding to read out loud every task and then leave Papyrus to do it. He was able to solve some stuff but most of it was incomplete and the few things he had written he knew the teacher would struggle to read. Grillby, who was standing by his side, had told him not to worry, that he wasn't getting a grade for that; they just wanted to know what he needed help with. But he knew he wasn't a normal kid, and he didn't know how other children at this school did. What if he was to dumb for that school too?

He didn't have time to keep going over those thoughts as the principal came out with the nice teacher, both seeming unaffected by his performance in the test. He didn't know whether that was good or bad. They seemed content enough, so he held onto that hope.

"Well, we have finished revising the test" announced the principal, showing them a small, genuine smile. She gave Grillby a small nod, and the leaves in her head bounced slightly. Papyrus had never seen a monster like her before, but then again he hadn't seen much in his life.

Papyrus kept quiet, too anxious to ask. Sans, on the other hand, was eager to know "So? How did he do?"

The teacher took a step forward, hands behind her back "Very good! He solved a lot of the tasks. That really helped us decide which classes are best for him.

"But I don't know how to read" the skeleton couldn't help but say. How could he do well if he couldn't even do that?

"Oh" the teacher waved her furry hand dismissively "We already knew you have trouble with that. It's ok! We can work on it. But we wanted to know how you did with other stuff, problems that require thinking, and you did very well at those" she turned her head to look at Grillby "He has some trouble with maths, but nothing serious. A lot of kids do at his age" she glanced at Papyrus and winked "He's smart, I bet he'll catch up quickly"

Papyrus blushed and smiled for the first time that day. Sans always told him how smart he was, and Grillby did so too, though not as much as his brother, of course, but hearing it from someone else, someone who was even a professional, instantly made him feel better.

"Can I come to class then?" he asked with a grin.

The principal nodded, leaves waving again "Of course, Papyrus. We'll tell you which classes you're going to attend when you come next Monday. Some classes will be for you to get over this difficulties you have, and others will be to develop what you're already good at. We'll tell your dad more about this while he fills some papers with your information."

Grillby cleared his throat awkwardly, his flames getting a slightly stronger shade of orange.

"Um – I'm not their father. I just – take care of them" he rubbed the back of his neck, glancing nervously at the kids. Neither of them seemed to know exactly what was going on that had the elemental acting like that.

The principal's eyes widened in horror "Oh, I'm sorry! I completely forgot! Yes, the king told us about their situation. I – I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to make  
you uncomfortable" she looked apologetically at Grillby, then at the skeletons.

The flame shrugged and laughed quietly, still feeling a bit awkward "It's fine, don't worry"

"I don't know what happened but it's ok Miss!" Papyrus assured her smiling innocently.

"Well, let's go then. It'll be a few minutes boys, stay here" said Grillby walking towards the office, the teacher and the principal trailing behind him.

Once they were alone the brothers looked at each other.

"Sans, why were they so shy all of a sudden?"

Sans shrugged "I think because they thought Grillby was our dad"

"Oh" Papyrus frowned, thinking "Well, does some things a dad would do, right?"

"I guess, but he isn't so I think they all got embarrassed 'cause of that"

The younger brother nodded "Adults are weird" he said, a confused expression on his face.

"Yup" Sans agreed "Anyway – See? I told you you're smart. I'm always right"

An hour later both brothers were home sitting on the couch while Grillby cooked lunch for them. The test had taken place early in the morning and they had barely even had breakfast, which had Sans practically starving. Or at least that's what he claimed. On the other hand, Papyrus was fine. Great, even. He was too excited about his new school to be bothered by hunger. He hoped the other kids were friendly. Grillby had told him everyone would be nice to him, but he had said the same before so Papyrus wasn't sure if he should take that for granted.

"Grillbyyyy I'm hungryyy" Sans whined, rolling on the couch to end up on top of his little brother, squashing him against the cushions.

Papyrus groaned and wriggled, trying to free himself "Get off me!"

"Nuh-uh"

"Sans, get off your brother" Grillby scolded him finally coming to the living room with two plates full of pasta. At the sight Papyrus, once Sans was off the couch,  
ran towards the table.

"Yay! Spaghetti!" he nearly screamed with delight, his usually high tone of voice raised due to his happiness.

Grillby nodded "It's been a while since you've had it. I thought you deserved a treat for today."

"It's really good, Grillbz" Sans managed to say in between mouthfuls of food.

"Sans! Don't talk with your mouth full!" his brother scolded him, pointing at him with his fork. Then he turned to look at the elemental "Thanks Grillby!"

"It's my pleasure, Papyrus. I'm very proud of you. You've dealt with everything very well and with maturity"

Papyrus blushed and started playing with his food "Thank you. But you've helped me too! Well, me and Sans" he glanced at his brother, who was focused on adding as much ketchup as he could to his food.

"I care a lot about you, boys. It makes me happy to help"

"I know!" Papyrus grinned, but it only lasted a few seconds before he frowned slightly "Grillby, why did you get so embarrassed when the principal thought you were our dad?"

That got the elemental's flames going a darker shade of orange once again "It's…complicated, Papyrus". When the skeleton kept staring at him, curious eyes expecting an answer, he sighed "It's hard to explain. Some things just make us adults feel uncomfortable. I wasn't embarrassed, I just assumed they knew what happened to your – to Gaster, so when they didn't we all were uncomfortable."

"But you are kinda like a father to us, right?" he turned to look at Sans, looking for support. Meanwhile his brother just kept a straight face while staring at his plate, playing with his food. A couple of drops of sweat were forming in his skull "I mean, you buy us things, you take care of us, you cook for us, you do this…um – procedures to get us in school..." he stopped, thinking he had made his point.

Grillby looked at him in the eye, expressionless as always, flames crackling "You're right. Yes, I do all that for you, and I'm more than happy to do so. It is father-like behavior, but it doesn't mean I am your father"

"What would change if you were?" Papyrus asked before Grillby could say anything else.

The elemental shrugged "Not much, I think. But a proper parent would live with his children, and I can't do that. I have a lot of work at the bar, so I practically live there."

"That's ok, we can live on our own!"

"Papyrus…" mumbled Sans, a weird expression on his face. It looked both angry and panicked.

"Papyrus, are you asking me to be your father?" Grillby offered, his voice calm as usual.

It was then that Papyrus actually became conscious of what he was implying. The truth was he had wanted parents as soon as he had heard about them in the stories Sans read to him, and he had started seeing Grillby as a father more and more as time passed. Not because he needed one or because he was desperate, he just thought that the monster acted like how parents usually did. But now that he had said it all out loud he wasn't so sure about it.

"Um…No – No, I'm not. I don't thinks so. I mean – I would be nice but it wouldn't change anything I guess. Would it? I don't know. I just thought you were acting like how a dad would, but I didn't mean to ask" he rambled, his hands moving frantically while he tried to make his point "It'd be cool if you wanted to – But it's cool if you don't! I mean –"

"Breathe, Papyrus. It's fine" Grillby stood up and walked towards the boy, crouching next to him "Whatever you want me to be is fine. I won't be able to be a typical parent and be with you all the time I'd have to, but if you still want to see me as a father I'm glad to comply."

The skeleton didn't waste any time and he instantly jumped from the seat into Grillby's arms, suddenly weepy. It surprised both monsters, but they didn't comment on it.

"Um…Pap, your food must be freezing by now" they heard a small voice say, making them break the hug to look at Sans, whose plate was empty and who seemed like he was dying to run away.

Papyrus looked startled at Sans, then at the food "Oh, right"

"Let me heat that up for you" said Grillby picking up the cold plate. He turned to look at Sans "Sans, why don't you bring your plate and leave it in the sink?"

"Um, yeah, sure" the skeleton mumbled and did as he was told, trailing after the elemental.

Once they were alone, first of all Grillby placed the food in the microwave and started heating it up. Then he turned to look at Sans, who was actually expecting it. He knew when Grillby wanted to have a talk with him.

"Don't worry, Grillbz. I'm not mad about what happened out there" he gestured with his head to point outside the kitchen.

"Then why did you look like you wanted to run away to your room?" asked the elemental, his tone not mocking or sarcastic, but curious.

"It just – Nothing. I was a bit worried you wouldn't like what Pap was asking and were gonna get mad. But you didn't, so it's fine" he shrugged, then started filling his plate with food again "Oh, and I'm not done eating. Don't know where you got that idea"

"Of course I'm not mad. We've been in this together for almost half a year, and I've grown really attached to you two. I can't really say I thought of myself as a father, but just because it never really crossed my mind doesn't mean I dislike the idea."

"Mmhm" Sans nodded, still adding food to his plate.

Grillby sighed and walked until he was behind the skeleton "Sans, what's wrong? I know you want to say something"

"Nothing, really. There's nothing to say. I'm glad Pap's happy" he turned around, ready to go back to the living room, but Grillby blocked the way.

"Is it about it implying I'm would be your father too?" he asked, expression impassive.

"No" he denied in a weak tone. He noticed right away that the elemental wasn't buying it, so he sighed in defeat "Maybe. Yes. I don't know" he placed the plate on the counter, since it was pretty obvious he wasn't about to eat some more for a while. The beeping of the microwave could be heard in the background, announcing it was done heating. "I mean, as hard to believe as it is, Gaster was my father, at least in my mind. I spent most of my life thinking about him that way, though just because I didn't know better. But it's hard to all of a sudden think of someone else that way too"

"I know, Sans. I'm not expecting anything of you" assured the elemental trying to comfort him "I'm still me, and I'll still do everything I've been doing for you two. I don't need you to call me dad for that"

"Yeah, I know, I just…thought it'd be nice" he blushed, crossing his arms "But the last father I had used to experiment on me until I passed out so...It could take a while"

Grillby put his hand on Sans' skull, stroking it in a soothing way "Don't worry. If you feel like that, it's fine. If you don't, it's fine too. I'll always be Grillby, even if Papyrus suddenly starts calling me dad" they both smiled at the thought of the little boy, who was still waiting for them at the table.

Sans picked up his plate once more "Ok, come on. He'll figure we're talking about something private and won't stop till we tell him"

Grillby took Papyrus' food out of the microwave with a nod and they both walked out of the kitchen into the living room, finding a smiling Papyrus still waiting for them. At that, the worries about their last conversation were forgotten and their focus turned to just enjoying the meal like the family-in-progress they were.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey guys! I just wanted to say thank you for all the support. I read and appreciate every review and it means the world to me that people are reading this story. Sorry I didn't upload during the weekend but here's the new chapter. Next one should be up on Saturday I think.**

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Things didn't change much after that episode. Papyrus more often than not called Grillby by his name, but he'd blurt out a "Thanks dad!" when the elemental bought something for him or did something he liked. On the other hand, Sans just couldn't bring himself to see Grillby as a father. He was more a friend than that; he'd been there for him when he was living with Gaster and after he died –though of course they weren't as close as they were now–. He understood why Papyrus saw him that way, but he just couldn't. Grillby didn't mind, and Papyrus never questioned him about it, so he wasn't worried about that. He continued to call him Grillby and treat him as a friend (old friend, but a friend nonetheless).

Despite the relationship with his newly formed family not changing, Papyrus still had a lot on his mind the rest of the week. His classes started soon and he couldn't help but expect the worse after his las experience with his other classmates and teachers. He didn't voice his thoughts though, he didn't want Sans worrying about him in his own classes –which he would resume at the same time Papyrus would– and he didn't want to ask Grillby for even more than what he already gave them. He knew the monster wouldn't mind him talking to him, but Papyrus wanted to handle this on his own. He was always dependent on both his brother and the elemental, and he knew he couldn't go on that way. He would go, make friends and finally have a normal life.

And so Papyrus spent the rest of the week trying to settle his nerves until Monday came and he couldn't hide his nerves anymore. He was thankful when Sans brushed it off as normal first-day of school nerves, but Grillby did figure out how worried he actually was. Strangely he didn't start trying to praise him and tell him everything would be fine; in fact he only said "Have a nice day, Papyrus. I'll have something cooked for you when you come back" and for some reason that made him feel better. His emotions were still all over the place, but knowing his family would be waiting for him with open arms gave him a sense of comfort he really appreciated.

Sans would walk him to school. His brother wanted to make sure he arrived safely, and after the day was done he made Papyrus promise he would wait for him until he went to fetch him. The younger brother didn't mind, although he wondered how much time he'd have to sit waiting for his sibling. After all their classes finished almost at the same time, and Sans' school was all the way back to Snowdin while his was at Waterfall. It'd be 15 minutes at least, if he was lucky, but he didn't want to complain about it since he knew Sans was only trying to take care of him. He hoped that with time he could move around alone, but for now he was fine with their agreement.

"Ready, Pap?" Sans asked zipping up his hoodie. Papyrus nodded and gripped tightly the straps of his school bag. Sans approached him and zipped up his big coat "I know it's hot in here but you're gonna freeze out there, buddy. Once we're in Waterfall you can take it off"

Papyrus nodded again "Ok". Sans looked at him with suspicious eyes, noticing the lack of talking from his brother. He usually talked a lot, too much even. But he didn't want to press the matter, so he just let it go.

"K, let's go"

It wasn't that it was a long way from their home to school, but it was full of people and to make their way through the crowd took a lot of time. Papyrus was thankful now that Sans was with him; he didn't know how he'd had handled so many people at once if he'd been alone. He still got nervous around other monsters, though he was getting better at it: now he had started talking to shop owners on his own to ask for stuff. Mainly because Sans forced him to, otherwise he wouldn't be getting any cinnamon buns. But, although he was making progress, he couldn't deal with crowds; going from being alone in a lab to being surrounded by monsters was too much for him.

He hoped the school wasn't very crowded. His last school had a lot of kids but a big playground so they split up and he didn't feel cornered by the other children, but he didn't know a thing about this school. Plus it was in Waterfall; would monsters be very different from the ones in Snowdin? What if he was an outcast?

"Y'ok, bud?" asked Sans bringing him back to the present. Papyrus blinked a few times and then looked up to his brother "Yeah, sorry"

"It's fine. Just wanted to warn you: that over there is the start of Waterfall" he pointed at the start of a place that lacked snow and was mostly made of rock. It even had a ceiling made of rock! Papyrus tried to remember what Sans had read to him. Cavern, that's what it looked like: like a cavern. "You see?"

"Yeah!" he replied feeling excited for the first time in the day. He started picking up the pace, and so did Sans, trying to keep up with his little brother.  
Once they arrived to the no-snow land Papyrus started wriggling around, uncomfortable. "Can I take it off now?" Sans nodded before he even finished the question. He knew his brother hated wearing that big coat. And Sans knew it was too big for him, but he wanted Papyrus to be as warm as possible when walking around Snowdin. He unzipped his hoodie a small bit, enough for his shirt to show a little.

"Come on Sans! I wanna see!"

And so the brothers took their time exploring Waterfall. Sans kept an eye out on the time so that they could still get to school in time, but he wanted Papyrus to know as much about the Underground as he could. He deserved it.

He himself had only gone to waterfall once, one time after getting his food at Grillby's. He, naïve child as he was, had tried to go out and explore more than the way to the bar. He had seen most of the place, but soon enough Gaster had appeared. He didn't even look surprised, or angry. Just…his usual expressionless self. But he had no mercy that day when performing his experiments. Sans never attempted to leave again.

Now, however, both skeletons could explore without fear, and knowing that later they could do it again, and the next day, and the next. They had their own thought about it, but they both felt the same: they were finally free. Free to do as they wanted.

However, they still had school.

"Come on Pap, we're gonna be late if we don't hurry" Sans took his brother's hand and pulled, getting him to stand up. His brother frowned, angry at being interrupted. He had been inspecting this little pond and he wasn't done "Hey, you can keep staring at it later. Now we gotta go"  
They started walking again, Papyrus stomping "I wasn't staring at it" he mumbled "I was trying to see if there were any monsters inside"

"Nah, no monster could live in there, they need more space than that"

They kept on going, talking about their discoveries the rest of the way. Papyrus had seen some rocks with funny shapes, and Sans had found some in the ceiling that actually sparkled. They promised to show those things to each other on their way back home.

After a couple of minutes they finally made it to the school. As soon as they caught sight of it Papyrus gasped, eye sockets wide: there were a LOT of children. He hadn't been expecting that. Sans immediately noticed the change in his brother's mood and stopped dead in his tracks.

"What's wrong, bud?" he asked, nonchalant, expression relaxed.

"There's…a lot of kids"

Sans hummed, looking at the entrance of the school, where parents were dropping off their children "Seems like it" he agreed with a shrug "So?"

"Nothing, I just…" he played with his bag's straps "I hope there's not that many in my classroom. And…that they like me" he admitted with a sigh.

"Pap, y'know I'm always telling you how awesome you are" Papyrus nodded, expression still worried "And I know you don't really believe me anymore" now that caught his brother's attention, instantly turning his head to look surprised at him "I'm not stupid, Pap. I know when you're lying"

"I don't think you're stupid! And I know you mean what you say!" Papyrus interrupted, trying to make his sibling feel better.

"But you don't think so yourself" Sans finished for him. Papyrus opened his mouth to deny it but had to close it when he realized he didn't know what to say.

"That's ok, Pap. I'm not blaming you. What I'm trying to tell you right now is that, if you don't believe in yourself, try to believe in me. Try to see yourself like I see you. Even if you don't think of yourself like that. Be confident. If you act like that then people will see how cool you actually are. Give them the chance, ok?"  
Papyrus kept quiet for a bit, processing the words. He could do that. He thought, at least. Just act confident, then. Maybe then some cool kids would want to be friends with him. He looked up to his brother and nodded. "Ok. I can do that."

Sans grinned and placed his teeth on top of Pap's skull; their version of a peck. "Take care. I'll come back for you when you're done. Have fun" Papyrus gave him a little, still nervous smile, and started walking towards the school. Sans started making his way back to Snowdin.

Papyrus had decided this school was better after only ten minutes of class. He still hadn't talked to any other children, but that was ok, everyone looked pretty nervous still. What he had actually liked was the teacher: she was really sweet and nice, and had given them all the time they needed to write down a few things she had asked. At first he had been skeptical, but she had started going to all the students individually to help them, and when his turn came she had given him really good advice and a reassuring smile. That was way better than how his other teacher had treated him before. He could get used to this. He hoped his math and history teacher were as nice as she was.

Once that class was over everyone went outside to have a little break. There was a playground, not as big as the one from the other school, but that seemed just as fun. What wasn't fun was playing on his own. Some children were starting to talk to each other and Papyrus didn't know how to do that; he wanted to do what his brother had told him to, but how did he even start?

He stood in the middle of the playground for a while trying to decide who to go to when he was suddenly pushed from behind, making him fall face flat.

"I'm sorry, I tripped! Y'ok, punk?" he heard somebody say. He stood up, wincing put some weight in his right knee. Good, first day and already hurt.  
Papyrus nodded and shook some dirt off his clothes. "I'm fine" he said finally raising his head up. He blinked a few times, surprised. The monster that had pushed him –apparently by accident– was a girl. A fish girl. He'd never seen someone like that around Snowdin; mostly it was just furry people.

"You're a fish" he blurted out without thinking. After realizing what he just said he covered his mouth with his hands, blushing a deep orange "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that!" he apologized quickly.

"It's fine" she waved her hand dismissively "I hadn't seen a skeleton either! It's really cool! If I tried, could I slip my hand between your ribs or is there magic protecting them? How do you stay together?" she started asking while she moved around to see as much as Papyrus' body as she could.

The skeleton frowned "I…I really don't know" he looked down at himself. He'd never thought about all that.

"It's fine, maybe we can find out later" she joked. Or at least he hoped so. He wasn't especially keen on having someone stick their hand in him.

"Later?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Sure! You seem like a cool kid. My name's Undyne! You?"

Papyrus started panicking in his mind. This girl was being friendly to him. Maybe they could become friends. What did Sans say? Act confident. All right. Confident. He started thinking about everything Sans said to him: you're funny, you're cool, you're awesome, you're-

"Great"

For a second Papyrus didn't even register that he had said that. When he did, he started rambling.

"I-I mean – I'm not great. I MEAN my name's not Great! But I am great! I mean-!" he sighed and closed his eyes, wanting the earth to open up and swallow him "I'm Papyrus" he finished, defeated.

Undyne laughed but, surprisingly, instead of walking away she punched his shoulder playfully "The great Papyrus, uh?" Papyrus smiled, relieved, and she grinned at him "Come on, Papyrus. I wanna play in the seesaw!"

She took off, and after taking two seconds to process the situation, Papyrus followed her.


	20. Chapter 20

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day. The school doors opened and in no time there were children leaving the building, screaming with joy and laughing along with their friends.

Papyrus was no exception. He went outside with Undyne, who he had discovered talked almost as loudly as he did. That made him feel even more comfortable around her since now he knew she wouldn't judge him for his voice, although he didn't do much of the talking: she kept on rambling about this 'Royal Guard' and saying how much she wanted to be part of it. He listened, not saying much, but he still didn't get what that guard was or what its purpose was; he just knew Undyne was waiting for the day she was old enough to get in it.

Once she was done talking she looked at him, then around them; almost everyone was gone by now. There were just a couple of kids left who were apparently still waiting for their parents, but in between all the talking both friends had lost track of time.

"Oh, well, I guess I should be going then. My parents will be soooo mad if I get home late" she laughed, as if the idea of being in trouble was funny "What about you Paps? Where do you live?"

The skeleton turned around to point in the direction of Snowdin "Over there. In Snowdin. Do you know it?"

Undyne made a face "Yeah. It's super cold out there, I don't like it at all." She saw Papyrus' expression at the comment and quickly tried to fix it "I mean, it's really nice! I'm just not made for it, y'know? Not like you" she punched him lightly in the arm "You don't have skin, so you're not cold, right?" she asked.

"Not really. I still feel cold, but not as much as you would I guess. I don't know how it works," he shrugged "but I think it's just magic"

His friend looked around once again "And are you going back on your own or are your parents coming to get you? Cause I can wait with you, if you want" she offered, relieved that she hadn't offended him with her previous comment.

Papyrus looked down, feeling awkward, then up again, trying to appear unaffected "Uh – I don't really have parents, so…My brother's coming"  
Undyne couldn't help her shocked expression "You don't have parents?! Like, you're an orphan? Why didn't you say so?"

Suddenly ashamed the skeleton blushed and lowered his gaze "I mean – I have someone that's like a dad but he's not really…I just like to call him that sometimes. But, yeah, I guess I'm an orphan" he closed his eyes and wondered if that would be it and Undyne would leave. He didn't know much about friends, but he didn't think she'd want to have one with his complicated backstory.

Undyne was silent for a few seconds. "With a semi-adoptive parent" she added finally with a smug tone. He looked up to find her smirking, apparently not bothered at all.

He smiled "Yeah" he breathed out, relieved.

They both went quiet after that, deciding they could talk about the details later, if ever. After all, they were still kids, and wanted to leave aside serious topics for now. With this in mind Undyne took Papyrus' hand and dragged him to the entrance of the school, where they sat down on the stairs.

"Don't you have to go home?" asked Papyrus with a frown.

The fish monster shrugged "I can wait with you. I can handle my parents. Besides I wanna meet your brother! What's his name?"

Papyrus beamed at her when he heard the question, and so they started talking about his brother and how cool he was despite being a lazybones most of the time. Undyne laughed whenever Papyrus made a face, suddenly remembering something annoying about Sans, but most of the time the skeleton was happy to share how amazing his brother was.

When he ran out of ideas about what to talk about he remembered something he had meant to ask his friend before. "Oh, Undyne, I'm sorry that I don't know, but – What is the Royal Guard?"

"You don't know?!" she looked horrified but quickly her expression turned smug and, in Papyrus' eyes, even scary "Let me tell you"  
Just when she was about to start rambling again, a shadow loomed over them and she stopped to look over Papyrus' shoulder. Confused, he turned around and quickly found himself smiling.

"Sans!" he shouted as he stood up and hugged his sibling.

Sans smiled at his brother "Hey Paps" he said returning the embrace "What's up? And who's that?" he gestured behind the young skeleton.

"Oh!" Papyrus quickly turned around and grabbed Undyne's hand to help her up "This is my new friend, Undyne!" he said as he smiled proudly, happy to be able to show off his friend.

The girl waved awkwardly "Hey, Sans, right?" the older skeleton nodded "I'm Undyne. Pap's told me a lot about you."

"Good things I hope" he joked, offering her hand. Undyne shook it while looking at him up and down "Something the matter?" he asked with a slight frown, his ever present smile twitching at the corners.

She shook her head "Nothing. You're just…big. Pap's really short" she smiled smugly, knowing what the reaction of the other skeleton would be, and then glanced at him, unable to suppress the laughter at his scandalized expression "No I'm not! He's older, of course he's bigger!" he defended himself. Then he heard Sans laughing too. "It's not funny, Sans!" he protested straightening his shoulders.

"Kiddo, I wasn't as small as you when I was your age. You're just a tiny skeleton, but that's ok. Maybe you'll be taller than me later on, who knows?" he shrugged, smirking, while Undyne laughed quietly in the back. Papyrus huffed and crossed his arms, feeling offended. "Hey, why the long face?" asked Sans playfully, then changed his tone to a more serious one, though still managing to sound relaxed "Don't be mad, bro. You know, Grillby's waiting for us and he'll want you to tell him all about today, not to mention about your new friend," he paused to wink at Undyne "and you don't want to spoil it by being angry with your cool brother, right?"

Papyrus scoffed but relaxed his stance. "Only for Grillby, ok? I'll still be mad." Without waiting for a response Papyrus turned around to face his friend "I'll see you tomorrow then?" he asked hopeful. Of course he knew she had to go to school but somehow it still seemed strange to have someone to look forward to seeing the following day.

Undyne nodded "Sure, punk. I'll see you in class! But now I gotta get going or I'm gonna be grounded" she stuck out her tongue playfully and with that she turned around and started running in the opposite direction. The siblings watched her run away for a few seconds with confused expressions before looking at each other.

"Nice girl, huh" Sans joked. Papyrus smiled at him, happy after school for once. Returning the smile Sans gave his brother a small pat in the back "C'm on, let's go home"

They went home in their own time since they wanted to look around some more in Waterfall and this time there wasn't anything stopping them. They didn't dare take another route for fear of getting lost, but they got excited even with little things they found along the way, such as 'water plants' or 'shining rocks'. They didn't know what they were for or their names, but that made them even more curious. In time Papyrus got over his previous anger towards his brother and ran to him every time he found something he deemed worthy of showing off. Meanwhile Sans was happy to comply and compliment his brother on his 'great' findings while he looked for his own.

By the time they got home it was almost nighttime and the smell of Spaghetti reached them even a few meters away from the house. Sans scoffed without malice,  
already knowing Grillby was going to treat Papyrus with that, but Papyrus was as excited as he ever was when presented with that dish. He ran the last few steps, almost falling due to the weight of his schoolbag and his coat, but got to the door in the end, Sans trailing behind him.

"I'm in the kitchen!" yelled Grillby before the children said a word "Lay the table, please, boys"

Papyrus took off his coat and hanged it on the coat rack "Coming!" he yelled back as he ran off to help.

"Yeah, he's going!" said Sans with a laugh. He'd had a long day himself so if his brother was so eager to help he wasn't going to complain. He needed to lay down a bit.

He dragged his feet to the couch and slumped on it, not even stopping to take off his coat. It wasn't that he'd had a bad day, no. It was good, all in all. The teachers acted as if nothing'd happened and the other kids didn't mention the incident, and that was all he could've hoped for. But he was tired; he didn't know exactly why, but he was. Maybe it had to do with all the homework he had, or the fact that he was so bored during the break that he started playing with his magic. Probably the last one. He knew he shouldn't do that, he had seen what using too much magic could do to him, but he was so bored…He didn't have anyone to talk to since he had yet to make any friends and he wasn't up for doing homework at school.

He yawned. He'd had to think it through next time. Playing with magic was cool while he was at it – and while nobody saw him – but the consequences were not all that pleasant. He hoped later he could be awake enough to read Papyrus his bedtime story.

"Sans come here, we're gonna have dinner!" called his brother, apparently oblivious to the fact that he had laid the table on his own, or maybe not caring about it.

With a sigh the skeleton stood up, vertebrae popping into place after being slumped in an uncomfortable position.

Once the three monsters had sat down and started eating dinner – devouring in Papyrus' case – Grillby spoke up. "So, Papyrus, how was school?"

From then on the kid talked nonstop about his day. The teacher, the classes, his friend, the Royal Guard – which apparently was amazing even though Papyrus didn't know all that well what it was – and every little thing that had happened. Grillby nodded and made a comment once in a while but didn't dare interrupt the child's rant. Meanwhile Sans ate quietly but with a pleased smile, happy that his brother had finally found a school he liked. Maybe it wasn't with him, in fact quite far away, but if it put a smile on Papyrus' face then it was worth it.

They stayed at the table for a while even when they were all finished. Once Papyrus had ran out of things to say Grillby turned to the other boy and asked him the same question he had asked his brother, to which Sans shrugged and said 'it was fine'. He added a few details, talking briefly about his classes, but nothing else. After all his day hadn't been all that eventful anyway. The bartender stared at him for a while after he stopped talking but didn't press the matter, for which Sans was thankful. Really, he hadn't done all that much, but he knew Grillby worried about him anyway. Maybe he ought to be more social but it just wasn't in him. Papyrus was the friendly one – Or at least the one who wanted to make friends. He was still figuring out how to make them.

When they had run out of topics to talk about they proceeded to clean the table and wash the dishes. Grillby said goodbye, giving Papyrus his 'goodnight kiss' – which was something the skeleton had found in one of his books and that Grillby was quick to figure out he wanted– and a hug to Sans, who still was skeptical about the whole parenting thing but wasn't about to complain about hugs.

"So, ready for a new story?" asked Sans once Papyrus was tucked inside his bed, his head the only part of his body that was visible. The boy nodded, eager. "Ok, so this one's about knights. You know what those are?"

Papyrus nodded again "They're warriors that fight for their kingdoms, right? To keep them safe?"

"Yeah, basically. D'you like them?" Papyrus grinned, suddenly excited "Yes! And I think that's what the Royal Guard is, right? Knights that protect the king and the Underground?"

Sans shrugged, not really interested in the topic "I guess. I don't know much about them, dad was always criticizing them for doing 'a horrible job' for some reason" he felt Papyrus staring before he even saw him and quickly noticed his mistake "I mean, Gaster. I mean, the doctor. Slip of the tongue, you know" he tried to laugh it off, but it sounded way off.

"Why did you call him dad?" asked Papyrus with a frown, now sitting up.

Sans shook his head and tried to make him lay down again "Told ya, slip of the tongue. Now come on, we've only got so much time to read this story before your bedtime"

"No, Sans. You called him dad!" protested the child trying to shake his brother's hands off him "And it's not the first time! Every time you talk about it you always start saying 'dad' but then say something else! Why do you call him that?" Sans shook his head, which only made Papyrus even angrier "Tell me!"

The skeleton covered his eye sockets with his hands, feeling even more tired than before "It's nothing Paps, really. I just…kinda saw him as a dad. I didn't know better than that" was the only thing he could muster.

"How? He was so mean! That's not what a father is like!"

"I know, Papyrus. But he kinda took care of me, in a way…" he saw Papyrus frown even more, now with confusion "He bought me some clothes, only the necessary, and sent me to buy food at Grillby's so I kinda had something to eat, even if it was almost the same thing every day"

"Really?" Papyrus' shoulder slumped while he got an incredulous look "But he was still mean, anyway, right?"

With his head still on his hands he answered "Yeah, he was still a bad person, no doubt about that. But he was worse when I was a kid. When I grew up he suddenly stopped focusing on me. He had other work to do, he said. Other things to…"

He suddenly shut up. With horror written on his face he raised his head and looked at his brother, who apparently had understood what had happened too. Gaster was too focused on his new experiment to keep working on Sans. Too focused destroying a child to keep hurting the other one.

"Oh my god, Pap. It was you!" he whispered incredulously. He remembered it perfectly: one day the doctor had disappeared only to come back the next day and suddenly he didn't have to say how he was feeling every hour, or go to the lab every morning. Gaster had lost interest in him all of a sudden, and while he wasn't about to complain, it had been strange. Now he knew the reason. And what was worse, he knew how much time Gaster had spent with Papyrus: he had seen him wake up early and come back to the house late in the night. The doctor had never been so dedicated to him, and that explained why Papyrus had suffered way much more than he had.

The younger skeleton buried himself under the covers "Well, I guess now I know why he liked you more than me. You were his son" he mumbled through the sheets.

"Oh, no, Pap, it was nothing like that!"

"But you don't hate him" was the quiet reply.

And that shut him up. Sans had suffered a lot, but Gaster was the only thing he had known all his life and while he was still experimented on, the doctor usually made sure he was at least comfortable, which was more than he had ever expected at least when he was a little kid. He couldn't say he hated him, no matter how much he wanted to. And it was humiliating.

"No. I guess I can't say that" he whispered feeling ashamed. When he didn't hear a response he looked down and found his brother still under the covers. "Oh, Pap, come on. I don't want you to feel bad because of me. Let's read the story and forget about all this, ok?" he offered trying to sound encouraging but failing miserably.

Once again Papyrus didn't answer so, with a sigh, Sans moved away the sheets, only to find his brother weeping with his head buried in his arms.  
Sans closed his eyes feeling as his heart broke once again at the sight of his brother suffering. He thought they had moved on, but he knew it was stupid to think that. It took more than a couple of happy days to erase years of torment.

He definitely was the worst brother.

"Oh, Paps" he said as he laid down next to him "I'm so sorry" he murmured as he wrapped the sobbing child in his arms.

He didn't really know what he was apologizing for. For having had it easier? For saying too much? For not being able to take care of his brother properly? He didn't know, but Papyrus sounded so miserably he just felt like he needed to say that.

They stayed like that for a while until the sobs started dying out and eventually Papyrus fell asleep. Feeling exhausted himself, after making sure his brother was safe in his arms Sans closed his eyes and drifted off too.

He didn't sleep for long though, as he was woken up by some distant crying very early in the morning.

That was the first time Papyrus had nightmares.


	21. Chapter 21

**We're coming to an end guys! There's still some chapters left but yeah, I'm excited :D Thank you for the reviews and all the support. You're awesome.**

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Ever since that night Papyrus' nightmares had been of daily occurrence. He'd wake up with a start, not screaming but just simply crying, and not being able to fall back asleep. It was only that first night that he'd allowed Sans to comfort him; after that he wouldn't mention them, acting as if they never happened. Unfortunately Sans' room was right next to his so he'd hear him crying at night, woken up by the sudden sobs.

It killed him. It killed him not being able to do something about it. He'd tried talking to Papyrus but he wouldn't say anything, acting nonchalant and even cheerful just to change the topic. Once he'd even gotten angry and stormed out of the living room to lock himself in his bedroom. Sans didn't attempt talking it out ever again.

He'd also tried getting Grillby to talk to his brother, but the elemental wasn't lucky either. The most he'd been able to do was reassure the kid that he was loved and could talk to them anytime, but that didn't change the situation: Papyrus still had nightmares, and still didn't talk about them.

During the day he seemed to be fine, his usual excited self, still nagging Sans about being lazy, loving spaghetti and going to school. It was just during the night that his vive changed, even before going to bed. He would try to get Sans to let him be up for more time than they had agreed on, suggesting movies, long books and board games. Sans couldn't find it in him to say no to that hopeful face, so he complied. Maybe he didn't get as much sleep as he needed –or wanted– but he didn't know how else he could keep his brother as happy as possible.

Grillby suggested getting Papyrus a therapist –and implied Sans needing one too– but when he tried talking about it to him the skeleton had been furious, going on and on about being fine and being tired of Sans nagging him about it all the time. Admittedly, that hurt. Sans didn't try that again.

He was worried. His brother acted like nothing was wrong, and he did very well at school, had a friend, told everything about his day to Grillby when he came over; but Sans was the one who heard how scared and sad he really was at night. And he could see it in his brother's eyes too every morning when they got up and every night when they went to sleep.

"I just don't know anymore" he complained to Grillby one night while they were getting laying the table before Papyrus got out of school "He barely even sleeps anymore. It's bound to take a toll on him someday"

The fire elemental handed him some plates to lay on the table "I'm worried about him too, Sans, but you know he's been through a lot. Maybe it's better to give him some space, like how I gave it to you at first when you needed it"

Sans frowned "It didn't take me a whole month to open up! It even looks like it's gonna go on for longer!"

Grillby placed a hand on his shoulder "You and him are not the same, Sans. You're calmer, older, and much more mature. He's still a kid. He doesn't know how to handle this, and no matter how much he's improved in the time you've known him he still is a kid and will act like one" he sighed and crouched to look Sans in the eyes "I'm sorry that you have to deal with this after what you've been through, both of you, but you knew it wasn't going to be easy"

"Yeah, I know" Sans' shoulders slumped "I just hoped…Well, he was doing so well! It's my fault he's sad again. I should have watched my mouth" he frowned and rubbed at his eyes trying to get rid of the tears that had started welling up.

"It's not your fault, Sans. It was going to happen sooner or later. It might have triggered the nightmares, but you're not the reason. Something was going to trigger them someday. Come here" he took the plates from the skeleton's hands and placed them on the floor before hugging him "You're a really good brother, Sans. You care about Papyrus so much, I'd never seen someone love a sibling as much as you love him"

"I still can't help him" he protested returning the embrace, tears now falling free. He hid his face in Grillby's shirt, for once letting himself be comforted.

"I know. And I'm sorry I can't help him either. You shouldn't have to worry about things like that, but your situation is not the best. I wish I could do more. But we can't force Papyrus to do anything, so we just have to wait until he feels ready" the monster turned so that he could wipe Sans' tears "Ok?"

Sans nodded "Yeah. I better go fetch him though. Sorry, I didn't help at all with the table" he smiled apologetically.

He managed to distinguish Grillby's flames curling up to smile "That's fine. Go get him, dinner will be ready by the time you get here."

After that conversation Sans had tried taking things easier. He still got woken up in the middle of the night but tried to go back to sleep, and during the day he tried to act as normal as possible around his brother, trying to show him he wouldn't bother him anymore. At first Papyrus hadn't appeared to have noticed, but then Sans started catching the skeleton looking at him with a frown, as if confused. Of course once he was discovered he turned his head to try and dissimulate but Sans knew his brother had noticed the change. What he wasn't sure of was if Papyrus was happy about it or not.

He ended up finding out the answer by accident. And he was not pleased.

During the weekend Sans liked to go to Grillby's. He loved his brother, but he knew that the only way he could have all the junk food he wanted without someone complaining about it the whole time was if he went on his own. Sure, Grillby always advised him to eat as healthy as possible, but he didn't nag him about it, so he usually went there for a few hours before going back home.

Meanwhile Papyrus liked staying at home. He was eager to go out, too, but he didn't dare do that without his brother, yet. He made up excuses for it, but Sans knew he still felt insecure about being outside on his own. And so while Sans was out, Papyrus was happy to stay at home and solve some riddles and puzzles Sans found for him.

Or so Sans thought.

One Saturday he got back from Grillby's, satisfied after a nice meal. He was home earlier than usual, but he had been talking to Grillby and arrived to the conclusion that maybe Papyrus didn't talk to him about what was bothering him because he thought Sans would judge him, and so he had decided that if his brother didn't tell him about his problems, then maybe Sans could tell him about his –not all of it, of course. He wasn't _that_ selfish.

Once he had closed the door he called out for his brother, expecting to see him in the living room, perhaps watching TV. He wasn't. He wasn't in his bedroom, either.

Sans' ever present smile tightened, his brow furrowed. He searched through the whole house but there was no trace of his little brother. When he was just about to panic he went outside, deciding the best thing he could do was get Grillby and ask for help, but stopped dead in his tracks when he heard some noise from the back of the house. It wasn't loud, in fact he wasn't even sure he'd actually heard it, but then he heard it again and quickly turned to run that way to find out what was going on.

When he got there he gasped, his mind going through all kind of emotions: relief, confusion, anger, disappointment, more confusion, suspicion, protectiveness.

Was that his brother with…a little flower? _That_ little flower? The one he had only once got his brother to talk about, who tricked him into following him to the woods, lied to him, made him doubt the love of his family? Of course, Papyrus hadn't said all of that; in fact the skeleton was sure the flower had good intentions. But Sans knew better. Papyrus was too nice for his own wellbeing.

"Papyrus? Who is this?" he asked trying to keep calm, appear unaffected.

At the sound of his voice his brother turned around, obviously surprised and seeming even a little afraid. Sans hands balled into fists. What had that little shit told his brother?

Papyrus started stammering, obviously nervous. "O-oh, Sans! I thought y-you were with dad-Grillby!" he corrected himself, glancing briefly at the flower, who nodded almost imperceptibly.

Sans breathed out through his nose.

"I got home early. Wanted to see you. Who is this?" he asked again, his patience running out faster than usual.

"Uh-he's a friend"

"A friend, huh?" Sans smiled dangerously "Is he that friend I told you not to be around?"

Papyrus was about to protest but the flower spoke up "Howdy, I'm Flowey! You're Sans, right? Papyrus has told me a lot about you"

Sans fought the urge to stomp on it just because he didn't want Papyrus to see. "Yeah, that'd be me. Papyrus told me a lot about you too. I didn't like what I heard" he said, the warning obvious in his voice.

"Oh, that's too bad. Too bad Papyrus doesn't care about that, right?" Flowey turned to look at Papyrus, smiling.

"Uh"

Sans didn't let him even start. "He does care. And even if he didn't I wouldn't let him be around scam like you" he stepped forward threateningly "Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna ask you to stay away from my brother, or you can bet you're gonna have a bad time. Ok?"

"Interesting" was the only thing the flower said, now smiling smugly.

"Sans, don't be like that! Flowey's not bad" suddenly interrupted Papyrus, his expression angry "I am fine! Don't scare away my friend!"

Sans looked scandalized "What? Papyrus, he's obviously just playing with you! Who knows why, but you know as well as I do that there are wicked monsters out there"

"Yeah, I know that more that you do" was the reply. Sans frowned, realizing the hidden meaning behind that answer. "So just…go, ok? I'll go home in a bit" the skeleton turned around, apparently deciding that was the end of the conversation.

"No. You don't get it Papyrus, and I'm not gonna let that jerk take advantage of you"

Flowey laughed "Well this is the most fun I've had in a while." The comment got lost in between the brother's argument.

"He's not taking advantage of me! He listens! And he doesn't treat me like I'm stupid, he tells me the truth!"

"Oh, so you're saying I don't!?"

"Yes! You never do! You lie so I won't be upset but I'm not an idiot, Sans, I notice things too!"

"Well apparently you're stupid enough to be around that thing!" he pointed at Flowey, who watched the argument with a satisfied expression.

"He's the only one who understands me! If I talk to you just say something so I'll feel better but maybe I don't want that, maybe I want to be sad for a while! Is that bad?" Papyrus looked like he was about to cry, and that was the only thing that made Sans stop lashing out. He stopped and processed what his brother was saying, but before he could try to explain Papyrus started talking again "Besides, it's not like you care…." he trailed off "–that much" he added when he saw his brother's expression.

"W-what do you mean – You know what? Come, let's talk inside. I don't want this guy to hear a _private_ conversation" he turned to glare at Flowey. Papyrus was about to protest when he spoke again "Please." And Papyrus couldn't say no.

He waved goodbye to Flowey, who didn't seem at all troubled to be left outside of the conversation. Sans didn't know whether it was because he'd heard enough to be satisfied or because he'd find another way to hear the conversation. He didn't care either way.

The brother went inside, not daring to step close to the other. Sans walked to the couch and Papyrus followed, sitting at the other corner.

"Now, wanna tell me why you think I don't care?

"Are you going to listen to me or just say 'oh Pap, you're great, everything's fine'?" the boy mocked in an irritated tone.

Sans breathed out trying to stay calm. "I'm trying to talk to you, Papyrus."

"I just – I'm just tired. Sorry. Well, not sorry, I'm still angry, but I'm snappy and – That." He rubbed his eye sockets.

"I know. And I'm sorry about that. But you never talk about it so I never know how to help, and if I try to you just get offended, and apparently I don't care enough so I'm at a loss here, Papyrus. Just – What do you want from me?" he asked, feeling completely helpless.

"I – I just don't think you'd understand" his brother replied quietly.

"Well try me"

Papyrus fiddled with his fingers, then rubbed his hands, then pulled his legs up the couch. "Uhm. Well, you know I have nightmares and…they're about, well, him."

Sans nodded "I figured."

"Well, it's not just one dream, there's many of them but basically they all end up with him…telling me he's coming back. To –get me" he finished with a shiver.

"But, Paps, you know they're just dreams." Sans frowned. He could get that his brother was scared of the dreams but not that he thought they were actually real.

His brother looked like he was at the verge of tears. Maybe even a panic attack. "No, no! You don't get it! It's so real! And –And when I wake up it's like…Like he's around there. I can't see him but – And how would you know? He just disappeared one day and never showed up again! He could be back any day!"

Sans shut his eyes, mentally punching himself. Of course. In all these months he'd been with his brother it had never occurred to him that he actually didn't know what had happened to Gaster, and Papyrus was probably too scared to ask.

"Oh, Pap–"

"Don't – Don't lie to me, ok? I'm tired of you just telling me not to worry, because I do worry!" he hugged his legs tightly to his chest.

Sans shook his head "I wasn't gonna lie. Paps, he's dead. The Doctor died in an accident." Papyrus eyes widened, incredulous. Sans thought he'd probably stopped breathing. "A week later when I went to the lab to throw out all his stuff I found you there. And – Well, I was too worried making sure you got the life you deserved back and…Didn't tell you about this. I'm sorry" he closed his eyes, furious with himself.

"So – He's not out there?" was the only thing the little skeleton could muster.

Sans shook his head again and stayed quiet, not knowing what else he could say. After a few seconds of silence he heard sniffing and quickly scooped up his brother, placing him in his lap.

"Don't cry, Paps, really, you're safe, I'm not lying" he tried to reassure the boy.

"I know" he sobbed wetting his brother's hoodie "But – I'm a bad monster"

"What? Why would you think that!?" Papyrus shook his head. Sans hugged him tighter "Please, tell me, Pap"

Papyrus hid further into his brother's chest "Because I'm glad…I'm glad that he's dead" he cried.

Sans didn't know what to do with his emotions. He was only thirteen, how was he supposed to deal with all of this? He wished Grillby was there to help. He'd know what to do.

"I – I don't know how to make you feel better, Paps. Just know that – I feel the same way."

Papyrus lifted his head, surprised "Really?"

"Yeah. And I feel bad about that, too. But you need to know that you're the best monster I've ever known, and – Sorry, I'll stop" he interrupted himself. He didn't want Papyrus to think that he was just saying that to make him feel better. Although he was. But he couldn't help it, he hated seeing his brother cry.

"It's ok, Sans. I know you mean it. I'm just tired of acting like it makes me feel better. It does!" he added quickly, noticing the way Sans tightened his hold on him "But…It's not enough. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize" the older skeleton placed his skull over his brother's "I hope now you know the truth you'll sleep better."

"Maybe" was the only response.

They spent a few minutes like that, trying to calm themselves and the other. In the end they decided to turn on the TV to distract themselves, though they ended up falling asleep.

Sans was woken up a few hours later. The nightmares didn't stop.


	22. Chapter 22

Papyrus was a good monster. He did well at school –the teachers loved his enthusiasm–, he had friends –or well, at least Undyne, and she had some other friends with whom Papyrus played sometimes–, and he helped with the house chores every time he could. In fact, he encouraged cleaning. It was probably every mother's wish come true.

Papyrus was a good monster, but he didn't _feel_ good.

With the nightmares came restless nights, which ended up making him decide to stop sleeping altogether, and therefore he tended to be snappish almost every day. Of course, no one could go on without sleeping their whole life, so it would be a couple of days before he couldn't stay awake anymore and Sans had to carry him to his room before he passed out. Instead of feeling better the next day, he would wake up even worse and his mood would be all over the place.

He still was Papyrus; he was positive whenever he could find the strength to, tried to help whoever he could, was passionate about spaghetti and loved his family dearly. But his past wasn't letting him move on, and no one knew how to help him.

They had taken him to see a therapist. He had agreed after both Sans and Grillby had talked to him for enough time that he had said yes just to make them happy. It hadn't worked. He had come home crying and his nightmares had been worse than before. They had tried convincing him that maybe it just wasn't the right therapist, but it was to no avail. He was done talking to strangers about him.

As time went on and Papyrus started getting worse Grillby decided to spend more time at home with the boys. Working less hours would probably end up being worse for them since the elemental wouldn't have enough money to buy everything the boys wanted, but he would still be able to get they needed, and that would have to be enough. Papyrus needed him around. So Grillby now worked during the day but stayed with the kids during the night, sleeping on the couch despite the children's complaints. It wasn't the most comfortable place but he wanted to be there in case any of them needed him.

Meanwhile Sans felt more helpless than ever. He couldn't do anything to make his brother feel better, and if he tried it just only made things worse; once Papyrus even ended up having an anxiety attack. Sans stopped trying after that. Ever since he just made sure he always had puzzles around in case Papyrus needed some distraction, which meant he was always around the Librarby since Papyrus was always doing puzzles. Thankfully there were a lot of books in the Underground. Besides, his brother liked it when he read the riddles out loud for him, which served as a way of staying close to him. He didn't want to lose the bond he had with his brother, but lately it seemed like it was the only thing he could do.

And with no change at all, years went by. Before they knew it Papyrus was a teenager and Sans was even over his twenties. Things were still the same: Papyrus tried as hard as he could to stay happy, Sans pretended he believed he was, and Grillby kept around with the excuse of just wanting to 'be with his boys more'. Of course, that last bit was true, but certainly wasn't the main reason. Grillby knew it, Sans knew it, and even Papyrus did.

They had had weird birthday celebrations; none of them was sure of when Papyrus was born, so they had settled on the day Sans had found him, and none of them had wanted any big parties so every year they celebrated Sans' birthday at Grillby's, where he got to eat as much junk food as he wanted without Papyrus complaining and with all the customers' best wishes, and Papyrus just went out with Undyne for a walk to the forest; he was still an avid explorer and wanted to know as much of the Underground as he could. Besides Undyne had convinced him that one day he would be able to be part of the Royal Guard and to do that he needed to know every part of the Underground there was to know. Undyne, for her part, had already impressed the king and had a place saved for her for when she was older; sixteen years old was still too young. She promised she'd do all she could to get Papyrus in, and that was one of the few things nowadays that kept the skeleton happy. Grillby said that he could get in only if he kept doing well at school.

He didn't need to tell him that, of course, since Papyrus was an excellent student. They had given up on getting him to read; he could, but in general it took him a long while to get every word right, and the same went for reading. They figured Gaster had done something wrong and this was the sequel; nothing much they could do. But that didn't stop the skeleton: he learnt things very quickly and was always eager to learn more. He was the teachers' favorite student. But that didn't stop Grillby from wanting to play the dad part with him.

To Sans' frustration his brother didn't stop talking to the flower. He had done all he could to convince him otherwise, but it was to no avail. Papyrus was sure Flowey had something good in him and he was determined to help him to show it. Even if the flower didn't want to. 'He wants to,' Papyrus would say 'he just doesn't know yet'. Sans wasn't so sure. Besides Flowey always seemed like he knew something Sans didn't, and that pissed him off. A lot. But he wasn't about to make his brother feel even worse by trying to scare off his friend, so he just breathed in, then out, and let it go.

But then he noticed something he couldn't let go of.

He found his brother talking alone.

At first he thought it was just his imagination: maybe it was the TV, or he was with Undyne. But then he had walked by Papyrus' bedroom and saw him sitting there, legs crossed, on the edge of the bed. He was staring at his hands, and Sans thought that then he could just be taking to himself; that was normal, he did it himself sometimes. But then he heard what Papyrus was saying.

'Maybe you can tell me exactly what you want and we can…I don't know, come to an agreement? I know you hate me, that's fine, but I really want you to leave me alone– No offence. This has been going on for too long though so, please, just tell me what you want and I'll do whatever I can to do it. Please.'

Sans had stayed at the door for what must've been a few minutes but felt like hours. His brother had finally snapped. He was talking to the air for fuck's sake. And he had allowed it, he had let this go on for so long his brother had gone mad. Besides who was he supposedly talking to? And why did it seem like they were aggressive? Should he go inside and talk to him?

He decided against it. He needed to think about what he was going to say before he actually said it. The last thing he needed was Papyrus to push him even further away.

It took him a few days to decide what to do. Before that he made sure he spoke with Undyne and Grillby about it, asking them if they had noticed any 'strange behavior' from Papyrus, but none of them had apparently, and before they could ask him what it was all about he was off. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, he just…didn't want them treating Papyrus differently. They probably wouldn't, but he could never be sure. He only trusted himself when it came to his brother.

When he was done asking around and had enough time to think he decided to get done with it. The last thing he wanted was for his brother to get worse, and who knew how long this had been going on? So one day when his brother came home from school he asked him to sit down with him on the couch. Papyrus looked at him, suspicious, but accepted anyway.

'Is something wrong?' he asked notoriously worried.

Sans shrugged, trying to appear as relaxed as possible 'Well, that depends, bro.'

'On what?'

Sans sighed 'Is there something you want to tell me?' he changed position so that he was facing his brother.

Papyrus' eyes narrowed 'About what?'

'I don't know, you tell me.'

Papyrus closed his eyes and sighed exasperatedly 'Sans, don't do this again. I'm not a kid anymore, just tell me what you want to know.'

'Well,' he shifted closer 'If that's the case, if you're so mature right now, I need you to tell me the truth about this, ok? It's serious, Pap, and I'm only worried about you.'

'…Ok.' Sans noticed many emotions go through his brother's face: fear, suspicion, frustration, worry. None of them were good.

'You're probably not gonna like this…but I heard you the other day. Talking. In your bedroom.'

'Alright…So? Wait, did you eavesdrop when I talked with Undyne? You know I hate that, Sans-' he started complaining, but Sans interrupted him.

'You were alone'

Papyrus stopped stalking. 'Oh' he muttered.

Sans laughed a dry laugh 'Yeah. Oh'

Papyrus rubbed his skull absently and stayed quiet.

'Anything to say about that?' Sans insisted

'You're not gonna believe me'

'Try me'

Papyrus sighed loudly, obviously uncomfortable 'You're gonna think I'm crazy'

'Well, you _are_ talking to thin air. I don't think it can get any worse than that.'

'That's true' Papyrus laughed quietly but quickly stopped. 'You need to promise you'll hear me out.'

Sans nodded 'I can do that.'

Papyrus took his hand while shaking his head 'No, Sans, I need you to try to think about it from my perspective, ok? Don't try to logic your way out of this one. Listen to me, and try to understand. Please.' He looked at him, eyes begging, and Sans could only nod again.

'Ok' Papyrus breathed in, clearly trying to calm down 'Well, it started with the nightmares.'


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey guys! Thanks for being so patient, my life is a mess right now so I don't have that much time to write or even publish when I'm done writing. Thanks for the support, too. You're awesome.**

* * *

"When I first started having these dreams I was too scared to pay attention to them" Papyrus changed position for the third time in under a minute, as if he was uncomfortable no matter how he sat. "You know, like I didn't get what was happening. I just saw _his_ face and…panicked."

Sans shrugged "Well, that's understandable. You were a kid still." He omitted the fact that he still thought of Papyrus as too young to manage that stuff. He knew that'd upset him, and he would be right, but after everything his little brother had been through Sans couldn't help but see him as…that. Little. He knew his brother was strong, had always been, but he still felt very protective of him.

"I guess," Papyrus didn't look very convinced "but the thing is that for a long time it was just that: whenever I slept, I panicked as soon as anything resembled _him_. And, well, I'm still struggling of course," he rubbed his arm absently "but lately I've…um…talked to him."

Sans blinked "Talk…how?"

Papyrus sighed and rubbed his neck "I don't know how to explain it. He's not there, I can't see him, but- Maybe it's better if I explain what happened." He groaned "God, I hate talking about this."

"You know I won't judge you, Paps"

Papyrus shook his head "It's not you. I just feel like he's…listening."

Sans felt something funny at the pitch of his stomach but tried to ignore it for the sake of his brother. He didn't want him closing off now. Fortunately Papyrus didn't seem notice his discomfort and just kept talking.

"It was right after I turned sixteen. That day…Well, I just figured I was old enough to stop being– afraid, you know? Soon I want try to get in the Royal Guard and I can't go around scared of everything."

"You're not–"

Papyrus looked at him with frustration. "You know what I mean, Sans", so Sans stopped. He sighed and nodded, knowing that wasn't up for discussion, at least not that day.

"So," Papyrus went on "I decided to face my fears. I would go to sleep, sure of myself, and deal with the nightmare. I know controlling dreams is not easy, maybe even impossible for some people, but I felt that with that one dream I could. Like it was up to me." He turned to look at Sans to check if he was following his train of thought. Sans nodded and motioned to him to go on.

"Well, that night, like every night, he appeared. I had forgotten what I meant to do at first, but before I could panic, and for the first time ever, he actually _spoke_ to me" he looked shocked even though _he_ was the one that was telling the story, as if he still couldn't believe it. "At first I didn't get what he was saying, it was all kind of distorted, but then I realized he was actually speaking wingdings." He glanced at Sans "You know wingdings, right?"

"Yeah" Sans nodded "Didn't know he taught you that too."

"He did. Well, I don't know if 'taught' is the word…I just felt like I knew it. Since forever, you know?"

Sans nodded again. He knew the feeling. It wasn't something he had learnt like English, but more like something he had in him. Papyrus went on talking.

"He didn't speak it that much before he disappeared, at least to me, so it was weird at first, but then I got it."

"And what was he saying?" Sans still didn't know what the point to the story was yet, but he didn't want his brother to stop. This was the longest talk they'd had in forever.

Papyrus shrugged "I missed a lot of stuff while I was working on remembering how wingdings works, but I remember he said something like 'Finally' and 'It's about time you grew up' or something like that. From what I figured he had been waiting for a long time to talk to me, but before I could say anything I woke up" He paused for a second "It was super frustrating."

Sans kept quiet, not because he didn't want to interrupt but because he actually didn't know what to say. Papyrus didn't seem to notice it.

"I tried again the next night. That time I wasn't that scared. Maybe a little," he admitted with a resigned smile "but I could manage. That night was the first one we actually talked properly."

Sans was beginning to think this was pointless but encouraged his brother anyway "And…what did you talk about?"

"At first it was just me. I kept asking why he was there, why he didn't leave me alone, demanded that he did and never came back. He just stood there watching me, smiling. I was too angry to find it creepy, but Sans" he turned to him with a scared look "he looked…disfigured. Like he was melting. It was awful. I hadn't had enough time to notice it before then."

"Well, dreams tend to be weird."

Papyrus shook his head "No, Sans, I think he looks like that now."

Sans frowned "What do you mean 'now'?"

His brother sighed loudly and frowned, looking as if he was in deep pain.

"Sans, the point of all this is that ever since I've been talking to him. And he to me. Basically I try to persuade him to leave and he just…treats me like he did before. Except without all the physical torture. Mostly just plays with my memories."

Sans frowned more, if that was even possible "Ok…Well, we've tried one therapist before. Maybe you could try going to another–"

Papyrus groaned "It doesn't work like that, Sans! He won't leave! It's not my mind that's the problem, it's him!"

His brother was starting to lose his temper and Sans tried with all his might to remain calm "Ok, Pap, but I need you to explain why you're so sure of that."

"Because he told me!"

Sans closed his eyes, deeply upset. His brother had definitely started to lose it. He suddenly opened them, startled at Papyrus' tone when he shouted "Don't do that!"

Sans looked at him, question in his eyes.

"Don't act like I'm crazy or that you're the only one getting what's going on. I know what I'm talking about Sans! It's not that I believe this random dream, I know he's real. I _know_. He's proven it to me!"

Sans breathed out an incredulous laugh "How?"

"He knows everything that we're doing. He knows where I go, where you go, what we do, what _Grillby_ does. God, he hates Grillby" he whispered as he shook his head absently.

"Papyrus, that's you. That's your mind putting what you know in his mouth!"

Papyrus looked at him dead in the eye "Last weekend when you went to Grillby's you tried having mustard on your hot dog for the first time and ended up throwing up in the bathroom."

Sans opened his mouth to say something but the only thing that came out was a weak whimper, as he felt utterly confused. Once he had composed himself he tried to come up with something that would explain it.

As he grew frustrated he crossed his arms and frowned "Grillby told you"

"He didn't. You can ask him."

"You saw me."

"You know I hate Grillby's. Why would I go there?" And Papyrus seemed so sure about what he was saying that Sans couldn't doubt him.

They stayed in silence for a long time: Sans trying to find a logical explanation, Papyrus waiting for his brother to trust him.

In the end Sans gave up. "Ok, let's say I believe you. Let's say he still exist in your dreams for some strange reason. Why? Why would he still exist? And why appear in your dreams but not mine?"

"That's why I talk to him out loud. I don't have enough time to talk to him in my dreams so I ask him everything before so he can tell me when I'm dreaming – Well, that's just if he's feeling up to it. In general he just finds fascinating the fact that he still has power over me. Which I hate." He certainly seemed like he did. Sans hadn't seen his brother this angry in a long time.

"Has he answered anything yet?"

"For now he's just made it clear that what enables him to appear in my dreams is the fact that I'm scared, and to him that's hilarious" he groaned as he sank deeper into the couch, arms crossed. "He wants something from me, I know it, he's told me, but he hasn't said anything about it yet. I think he's afraid it won't work like he wants to so he just postpones it."

"What makes you think that?"

"He's just so…vague about it. He says I don't have to worry about it –disdainfully of course– but every time he mentions it he seems worried himself. I don't know, maybe it's just my imagination. He'll probably deny it tonight" he glared at the ceiling and Sans wondered if he was trying to glare at Gaster.

He covered his face with his hands, feeling completely at a loss "This is messed up, bro."

"Tell me about it." And for some reason Papyrus started giggling. Sans uncovered his face and looked at him confused and a little worried, while his brother just kept laughing uncontrollably.

"…You ok, bro?" he asked shifting a little closer to him.

Papyrus shook his head "I don't know" he managed to say in between laughs. It didn't take long for them to turn to more hysterical breaths and then sobs. "I'm so tired" he whispered as his body shook with the force of his sobs.

Sans breathed out, feeling exhausted himself. He couldn't imagine what it was like for Papyrus. "I know, pal. I know." His hand hovered around his brother's arm, not knowing if he wanted to be comforted. Papyrus shuffled closer without saying anything and Sans took that as a yes; with a relieved sigh he put his arms around him and hugged like he hadn't in a while, letting him cry on his shoulder.

"We'll work it out. I won't let you deal with this on your own again, I promise."


	24. Chapter 24

One would've thought after their conversation things would've started going more smoothly for them, but the fact was that Gaster still wasn't making his intentions clear and that was driving both brothers insane. Papyrus was doing all he could to get him to talk, to no avail of course, and Sans spent the whole day thinking about what he could do to help. Nothing, he thought. He couldn't do anything. It was his brother's mind that was at stake right now, and that was something out of his reach. Therefore the only thing he could do was wander around the house thinking of what his brother could tell the bastard to make him talk. It was killing him, feeling so helpless, but that was all he could do for now.

Of course Grillby noticed. He always did. He knew Papyrus was having a hard time but he always had and so he didn't pressure him into talking, but Sans was another thing entirely: he was older, more mature and even an adult now, so Grillby didn't hold back asking him about what was going on. Sans felt at a loss about what to say.

"You know I don't like forcing you to talk, neither of you, but I'm worried, Sans." The bartender cleaned the counter absently while looking at Sans directly. "Now it's not only Papyrus but you, too, and I need to know what's changed. Did something happen?"

Sans shook his head, swinging his hanging legs nervously while sitting on the barstool. He loved Grillby, and Papyrus did, too, but they had both agreed that the elemental didn't need to know about this. At least not for now, not before they had gone over every idea to get rid of Gaster.

"It's nothing, Grill. Or nothing you should worry about right now" he added when he saw the monster's expression – or more than saw, felt. Grillby had a way of showing what he was thinking without actually doing anything.

"So it is something I should worry about, then."

"Not now" Sans repeated.

To his surprise, Grillby seemed to be losing his patience, which Sans had never seen him do before: his flames started burning hotter and cracking loudly, enough to attract the other customers' attention. Apparently that made him realize what he was doing; he took a step back and a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. Sans frowned and stared at the counter, feeling extremely guilty.

Grillby finally sighed, resigned. "I'm sorry, Sans. I know you must have your reasons. You're an adult now, you don't need me mothering you."

Well, what a way to make him feel like crap. The skeleton shook his head "No, Grillby, that's ok, I appreciate it. I just really can't talk about this now. Maybe some other day, when I figure all this out" he offered, wishing there was a way he could make the bartender feel better.

"Yes, maybe." Grillby nodded, clearly doubting that was going to happen. He stopped cleaning and straightened up "I'll go serve the rest of the customers." And just like that he was gone.

Sans buried his face in his hands "Well, that went fantastically."

* * *

Later that day Sans went home. He usually stayed at Grillby's helping the monster out – Grillby said he was working for him but Sans did too little to actually consider it a job – but that day he just couldn't do it, not after their talk. He'd seen Grillby look upset the rest of the day and he couldn't deal with that, not when he still had Papyrus to worry about. It was just too much. He felt like crap for thinking that way, but there was only so much he could handle.

He wasn't surprised to find that Papyrus wasn't home yet. His brother liked staying in Waterfall and walk around with Undyne. He was glad; at least Papyrus could be distracted for a little while. Sans hadn't made any friends at school, but that didn't bother him since he had friend at Grillby's and that was enough. He knew his brother only had Undyne, though, so he hoped that they remained friends after finishing school.

Finding himself on his own he started making dinner. He'd already eaten a lot that day, but he wasn't about to leave his brother eating on his own, so he grabbed the first package of noodles he found and started cooking.

It hadn't been long before he heard the front door open and knew Papyrus was home. He poked his head out of the kitchen door and greeted him, instantly regretting it once he saw the scared expression on his brother's face.

"It's just me, don't worry" he assured him, a sad smile making its way to his face.

Papyrus nodded, obviously embarrassed. "Yeah. Hi, Sans"

Sans walked back into the kitchen to grab everything he needed to set the table.

"Why are you home early?" he heard his brother ask behind him.

Startled, he almost let the glasses fall down "God, Pap, don't scare me like that." He sighed, calming down, and remembered the question. "Um, I just didn't feel like working today" he went out of the kitchen, then back inside, trying to lay the table as quickly as possible.

"Sans, we're past this" Papyrus complained, standing in the middle of the room. "Or at least I hoped so" he made a face, and Sans didn't know if it was mad or sad, but he didn't like it.

He sighed "I know, Papyrus. Sorry. It's just that I don't want you to worry more than you need to, but if you really need to know Grillby was just insisting that I tell him what's wrong. I told him no, he didn't like it. It's just that." He shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant.

There was a moment of silence, only broken when Papyrus walked to sit on one of the chairs. "Thanks for telling me" he mumbled, staring at the table.

Sans nodded, knowing his brother couldn't see him, and went to the kitchen to fetch the drinks.

He felt so useless! He didn't know how to handle the whole situation anymore: what was right, what was wrong, what he needed to do and what he should avoid. It was all mixing up and he didn't have the answers anymore. This was a mess.

He went into the living room, too many thoughts in his head.

"I think he's gonna tell me."

"Huh?" he asked distracted after he finished laying the table.

"I said, I think he's gonna tell me."

"He?"

"Sans."

It was the tone of voice his brother used that made him finally snap back to reality. He opened his eye sockets wide.

"Oh, you mean…yeah." He shook his head, trying to get a hold of himself. "Why do you think that?"

Papyrus took his hand and dragged him to the couch to sit down. "He didn't say much – he never does," he started as soon as they had sat "but last night he finally said something about our conversation. Before he hadn't even acknowledged that it'd happened, but now he was…angry. He said that I had ruined everything and now what he wants is probably not going to work because of you."

"Me?" Sans frowned. He'd do anything to get the fucker out of his brother's head. Why would he mess up? Was it inevitable? Or did Gaster think he'd do it on purpose?

"Yes." Papyrus shook his head "I couldn't get him to tell me much more. He just said that I needed to keep you in the dark about all this. Perhaps I should," before Sans could protest he went on "but you already know about all of this so I don't see what the point would be."

"Right" Sans nodded. "And even if you think I don't have to know something, please tell me. I want to help, Pap, you know that."

"I know" he gave him a genuine smile, one of those that had been lacking the lately. Then he frowned and looked down. "With all that's happened…You know, the last couple of years…Well, I've never thanked you properly. For everything."

Sans couldn't help smiling in that way he only did when he saw Papyrus being himself "You don't need to."

"But I do!" Papyrus was determined "You've done so much for me. You were very young when you found me but did everything you could to take care of me. I don't know what would've been of me if you hadn't been there. I couldn't have done what you did – taking care of a little kid being so young" he shook his head, not upset but thoughtful.

"You helped me too, bud." He changed position to a more comfortable one. "Yeah, we've been through some crap but you took care of me too, and I'm not talking about you nagging me to eat healthy and stuff."

"Which you should do."

"Which I should do," he conceded "but I'm talking about giving me a reason to, you know, live." Papyrus seemed confused so Sans explained "When Gaster disappeared I didn't know what would become of me. I didn't have anything to do – I didn't know how to live a 'normal' life. But you came along and I didn't have anything to figure out but how to give you a better life." He put his hand on his brother's arm "You gave me a purpose, bro. And that's no little thing."

Papyrus nodded, understanding. "Well…I'm glad" the skeleton smiled at him, relieved. "I always thought I'd just complicated your life."

"Papyrus, I've told you a thousand times –"

"Yes, I know," he interrupted "but not like that. So thank you for telling me and…for everything." He smiled, and it was obvious that he meant every word.

Sans nodded and nudged him on the arm lightly "Thank you, too, bro." He felt strange. He wasn't sure if it was a bad or a good sensation, but he decided his emotional side had had enough for today. "Don't wanna end this so abruptly, but let's go and eat now – this feels like a goodbye or something, plus our food is gonna get cold."

Papyrus laughed, but Sans thought there was something off about it "Ok. Let's see how your pasta turned out."

* * *

Grillby joined them not long after to have dinner. The tension around the family sitting at the table was obvious but nobody commented on it; maybe there was nothing to be said, or it could be that there was too much to talk about. They ate in silence, broken every once in a while when Papyrus made a comment in an attempt to break the ice. Sans and Grillby tried to contribute to the conversation for the skeleton's sake but it was obvious that they were still uncomfortable, so Papyrus stopped trying after a while.

The skeleton couldn't help but feel guilty. This was his fault, after all. Maybe if he hadn't talked to Sans Grillby wouldn't be mad, but he knew that this was something he had to do, it was the only way. If he didn't have Sans' trust then he probably wouldn't leave him alone to do what he needed to, and Gaster would be unbearable if that was the case.

So he ate in silence, hoping that when all this was over Sans would forgive him for what he was about to do, and they could all be a normal family at last.


	25. Chapter 25

**Hey guys! I just wanted to say that next chapter will be the last one. Thank you all for the amazing support, it means the world to me, really.**

 **Love you!**

* * *

 _"_ _And what will that do?"_

 _"_ _Nothing you should worry about."_

 _"_ _I won't do it if it'll hurt people."_

 _The dark figure laughed quietly "If you want me out of your dreams you have to do as I say, P-AI2"_

 _"_ _My name is Papyrus!" shouted the skeleton, instantly angry. "I'm tired of repeating it!"_

 _"_ _I'll call you whatever I want to call you, P-AI2. I created you, therefore I get to decide your 'name'"_

 _Papyrus crossed his arms and lowered his head, irritated. He always cried when he was mad, and he was already teary-eyed, but he wasn't about to give Gaster the satisfaction of seeing him cry again._

 _"_ _Just promise me no one'll get hurt" he asked one more time._

 _The void seemed to change shape as the amorphous being that was the doctor got closer to Papyrus._

 _"_ _That depends on how smart you are" he smiled, and Papyrus couldn't help but shiver every time he saw him do it. "And we both know we can't trust that."_

 _The skeleton tried to come up with something to say but he couldn't think of anything, so he stayed quiet._

 _"_ _Well," he started after a few seconds "I know you don't want him to, but Sans could help, if you let him."_

 _Papyrus knew there was nothing under his feet, but he could feel the whole Void start to shake. His knees gave in and he fell, not landing on anything, but not floating, either. He looked towards Gaster, whose shape had changed and was now bigger, even more deformed and scarier than he'd seen him in a while. He stretched enough to hover over Papyrus, which made him recoil. "How many times do I have to tell you Sans is not to find out about_ any _of this?" he snarled, his voice echoing in the infinity of the void._

 _"_ _Ok, I won't tell him, I won't tell him!" he promised, trying to move backwards but realizing that he couldn't since he was stuck in just a little spot in the void. He shut his eyes in fear and waited. When nothing happened he opened them hesitantly, only to see Gaster standing a few feet away as if nothing had happened._

 _"_ _Then we're on the same page. I'm glad."_

 _Papyrus nodded, not knowing what else to do._

 _"_ _I expect good news next time we meet. See you soon, P-AI2."_

Papyrus woke up with a start, like he always did. He let out a shaky breath as he turned around in his bed to face the ceiling. He was so tired of this, he thought as he hid his face in his hands. So, so tired.

* * *

Sans knew something was up. He could feel it in his bones, but he couldn't tell what it was, exactly. His brother was acting strange – stranger than normal, that is. He wasn't being distant or anything like that, he was in fact too close. Excessively, like he was trying too hard to get Sans to like him, as if they were new friends and not brothers.

Of course that made him suspicious, how could he not be? His brother sucked at lying, and he was trying hard to be trusted. Papyrus had promised to tell him everything he needed to know, but Sans was worried he was hiding something else – something big. He wanted to find out what it was, but at the same time he wanted to believe his brother, he really did. Should he give him the benefit of the doubt, or should he confront him about it?

He still had Grillby to worry about. Not that the bartender was bothering him, the guilt was. He wanted to make peace with him, but how could he when he couldn't give him what he wanted? Things hadn't changed, he still couldn't talk about what Papyrus told him. Grillby didn't deserve it, but right now there was nothing he could do.

Taking into account the situation, Sans decided to stay home that weekend. He didn't feel like facing Grillby, and besides he wanted to keep an eye on Papyrus. He wouldn't be going to school and would have all the day for himself, and Sans didn't want to take any chances. He'd stay home and watch some TV, he decided. Maybe even get his brother to talk to him some more

That seemed to go against Papyrus' plans.

"Y-You're not going to Grillby's?" he asked when he found Sans laying on the couch.

Sans shrugged. "Nah. You know how it's with Grillby now" he said as nonchalantly as he could manage.

"Oh" was the only response. Sans couldn't see his brother since he was behind the couch, but he was pretty sure he sounded upset.

"Wanna watch some TV?" he offered in hopes that he could keep a close eye on his brother.

"No, thank you. I'm going to be in my room."

Was that good? Bad? Better than alone in the house, Sans thought. He'd check up on him in a while, but he didn't want to pressure his brother – that'd only end up making things worst. He nodded, deciding to let it go.

He switched channels until he found something mildly decent. He wasn't a fan of TV, he just liked to have something there to distract him, and right now he really needed that. He was too worried about too many things – he just wanted to relax. Just for a few minutes. And it was with this thought that after a few minutes of absently watching a cooking show he slowly sank deeper in the couch and fell asleep.

* * *

He didn't wake until at least a few hours had passed – he wasn't sure how many, but he had been woken up by the feeling that the house was quiet. Too quiet, taking into account Papyrus lived there. The skeleton may be having a hard time lately but that didn't mean he stopped nagging Sans to do his chores or talking about school or Undyne or the Royal Guard. He was always talking, and if not then always moving. And to Sans' worry, the house was silent.

He stood up, still groggy from sleep, and stumbled up the stairs, wondering if Papyrus had fallen asleep too. It was unusual, but not impossible. Or so he hoped.

He walked up to his brother's room and knocked a few times, but there was no response. He tried again, but Papyrus wasn't answering. Now confused he went downstairs again, not knowing where to look. The house was so quiet Sans doubted his brother was even inside, but if he wasn't there, then where?

"Papyrus?" he called, if a little quiet. He felt stupid calling out when he knew Papyrus wasn't around, but he couldn't not do it. Of course, no one replied.

His brother was a teenager now, Sans thought. He could take care of himself. He went to Waterfall on his own to meet up with Undyne, and often went around 'patrolling' – well, practicing for when he started the trials to get into the Guard. Despite all this, Sans worried. Papyrus was not one to leave without letting him know, even if he had to wake him up. He couldn't stand there and do nothing – even if in the end his brother was just walking around town, he needed to be sure.

He went outside and sighed in relief when he noticed it wasn't snowing; if it were it'd be hell to walk and even see. But everything was clear, and he could even hear the hubbub of people talking. That made it even easier because if someone was loud around town, it was his brother.

He roamed around Snowdin from start to end but it was to no avail – Papyrus wasn't around. Sans scratched his skull. Maybe he had gone to Waterfall to see Undyne? That had to be it. Papyrus hadn't ever gone further than Waterfall, and if he wasn't in Snowdin then he had to be with his friend. That was ok, but what Sans found strange was the fact that Papyrus hadn't let him know. It wasn't like his brother to go off like that. But then again, his brother wasn't acting like himself lately. Perhaps Sans should let him be for now.

Disappointed – he didn't know about what exactly – he walked home. For a moment he wondered if he should take this chance, now that he was outside, and go to Grillby's to try to sort things out. Maybe he didn't see the monster as a father but he did see him as a mentor and someone he could trust, and he really wanted to make amends.

In the end he decided today wasn't the day. Perhaps tomorrow, he thought. He wanted to talk to Papyrus, anyway, and maybe that way they could both think of something to tell the bartender.

He was about to enter the house when he heard something crash. He stopped. The sound didn't repeat, but he was pretty sure it had come from the back of the house. Had Papyrus arrived?

Sans went inside, hopeful, but to his surprise the house was as empty as he had left it. He searched around once more, confused. He was confident the sound had come from the back but there was nothing broken or out of place. Then, what was it?

He felt his whole body stiffen when he finally realized. There was still one place he hadn't searched, but that was because he hadn't thought he needed to. He went outside once more and shivering slightly, this time not from the cold, walked to the back of the house. There was still the possibility that he was wrong, but the fact that he could be right horrified him. He took out his keys, looking for the one for that one door. It wasn't in his key chain. He shook his head, now sure. Papyrus must've taken them when he was asleep.

He shook his head once again, now to clear his thoughts. He had to be strong and determined this time. He didn't know what his brother wanted with the lab, but he was sure as hell he wasn't going to let him get away with it. This was all Gaster's doing, and that meant nothing good.

Oh, Papyrus. How desperate do you have to be to do all this?

Not bothering to knock, Sans went inside, now mad – not at his brother, though they'd have a long talk after this, but at Gaster. He needed to get rid of him, now, whatever it took.

"What the fuck, Papyrus!?"

He couldn't believe his eyes. It had been years since he'd seen that thing, and he'd always known it would never work like the doctor wanted it to. Gaster hadn't listened to him. He had been sure the time machine would work and would take them back in time to before monsters were trapped. He'd died before he finished it, and now Papyrus was working on it. Once again.

"Are you crazy!? Get away from that thing!" He ran towards his brother and snatched the tool Papyrus had in his hand. "Do you know how dangerous this thing is?"

His brother seemed oblivious to what he was saying, only worried about his presence. "Sans, what are you doing here!? How did you find me?"

"It was well fucking obvious, you're loud even when working you're working on shit like this." Oh, he was pissed. He was going to destroy this machine with his own hands.

"Oh, God, he's gonna be so mad. This is wrong, you shouldn't be here" Papyrus was mumbling under his breath, hands on his skull "Leave, please! I have to do this!" he begged, grabbing Sans by his arms.

"Are you serious? Of course I'm not leaving! I'm gonna destroy this fucking thing and then you and I are gonna talk about not agreeing to do what a maniac tells you to do because, you know, usually it's something bad!"

"But you have to let me do this, Sans! This is the only way! He won't go otherwise, he'll stay in my head forever, and I can't, I can't deal with him anymore, I can't Sans!" The skeleton grew more desperate with every second. "It'll be fine, just please, leave! I'm finished! I just have to set everything up and we'll be ok again!"

"We won't be ok, Papyrus, this is a fucking time machine! It won't even work! And even if it did, you'll probably have to set it to go back to before Gaster died. You'll go back to being trapped with that maniac!"

"It's not like that!" he cried, and Sans had never seen his brother lose it like he was right now – not even when he had panic attacks. "I'm not trying to go back in time, I just have to set it all up to open the Void long enough to let him come out! I don't need to go back, I just have to do what he tells me and that'll be it! We'll be free from him!"

"Are you – what? Is that what that fucker told you? Papyrus, a million things could go wrong with that! It could suck us all in for all we know! Do you even know how to do this? How did you finish this thing?"

Papyrus groaned, "He gave me instructions and told me where to find the designs he was making," he pointed at a pile of paper over the desk "so I know it's gonna work. It has to! Why else would he ask me to do this?"

"Umm I don't know, maybe because he wants to screw our lives like he always has? Think, Papyrus: if this works, he'll be back, and who knows what he'll do if that happens. But if this goes wrong then we're all fucked. We won't come back. I know about this, Papyrus, I worked with him on this!"

That only seemed to anger Papyrus even more. He crossed his arms, defiant "Yes, Sans, I know you're oh so much smarter than me, but could you please for once in your life trust me on this? If he comes out we can deal with him! We're adults now, and there's two of us. And he told me I had to do it right so I know this can go wrong, but it won't. I've made sure it doesn't."

"This isn't about me being smarter than you!" Sans shouted, his body filled with something he couldn't describe. Fury? Maybe. He was just so done. If Papyrus wasn't listening, he'd have to act for himself. He suddenly felt very tired. "Sorry, bro, but you don't know what you're doing. If you're not gonna listen to reason, then I'll have to shut it down myself."

"No, you won't!"

Before Sans could do anything about it Papyrus had turned around and started pressing a bunch of buttons. Sans' breath caught. "Papyrus, stop!" He stretched his arm in a desperate to stop him and suddenly he gasped as he saw how all the buttons were crushed under what seemed like some blue aura. He looked at his hand and felt his breath caught when he saw the same aura around it. Had he done that?

Papyrus seemed oblivious to the implications of what had happened, just yelling at him "Sans, what have you done?!" He started messing around with the machine buttons trying in vain to find some way to fix them, but the fact was that the machine was on now and they couldn't do anything to control it.

It started making weird sounds, and Sans didn't know if that was normal or not, but Papyrus didn't seem to notice it, too concentrated on fixing it. "I have to do something, it has to work!" he heard his brother mumble hysterically touching the machine everywhere, trying to find something – anything that'd make it right again.

Sans eyes widened as he noticed with horror a black sort of goop forming in the ceiling. It looked like some dense liquid, but instead of dropping it just got bigger every second.

"We have to turn it off!" screamed Sans, trying to get his brother to listen over the roaring of the machine. His brother didn't reply, Sans didn't know if because he hadn't heard or didn't care, but anyway he got close to the machine, trying to find something to shut it down. There wasn't anything, much less now without the buttons he'd destroyed. He started growing desperate.

All of a sudden the papers on the desk started moving and just then Sans noticed that, just how he had predicted, the void was starting to suck everything into it. The void wasn't something that could come out, he'd know that, and that's what he had told Gaster when he suggested using it to time travel – once you were inside you couldn't come out so, in turn, now that it was open, it took everything within its grasp.

For a second he felt paralyzed, his feet glued to the floor, but then shook his head and reacted quick, grabbing his brother to try to get him away from the machine.

"Papyrus, we have to go now!"

Papyrus shook him off, going back to work, "I can't!"

"Yes, you can, and you will, or we'll both be sucked into that thing!" he shouted, his voice now barely audible over the sound of the Void sucking the little things that were scattered around the floor. Sans knew there wasn't much time left before it started taking in bigger things.

"I need to stop it!"

"You don't need to – wait, what?" he frowned, baffled. Wasn't Papyrus screaming he had to make it work like two seconds ago?

"I know it won't work – not anymore," he said in what sounded like a sob, "and I don't want people getting hurt because of me. I'll stop it."

Sans didn't know whether to feel proud or scared of his brother's determination.

"Paps, we don't have much time. If we don't go we'll end up going straight into the Void. If we're lucky this thing will stop when it sucks the time machine into it; after all it's its power what's keeping it open."

Papyrus finally turned looked at him teary eyed "I can't leave, Sans."

"What do you mean you can't? Of course you can! You won't be able to, though, when this all goes to hell!" He was scared now. His brother needed to start moving now or this would go even worse than it already was.

Papyrus turned to look at him, looking more upset than he'd ever seen him. "Why would I leave? There's nothing waiting for me, Sans – at least nothing good. We can't get _him_ out of my head, and now that this went wrong…He won't leave me, Sans. Ever. And I know he'll be so much worse than he is right now… I won't live, not like that." He sighed, resigned, and Sans couldn't believe he was actually saying what he was saying. "I'm sorry. I know you tried, but you know we can't win. Not against him."

For a second the only sound was things being absorbed into the Void, which was now drowning the roaring of the machine, but then Sans chuckled; it was a small laugh, but it startled Papyrus.

"If you think I'm gonna let you go after all the shit we've been through then you don't know me at all, bro."

They could hear wires coming off, some of the lab machinery being absorbed, and not long after both skeletons started feeling a little lightweight – the void was getting stronger. They looked at each other, knowing that it had to be now or never.

"Papyrus, we'll figure something out. We always have, and we always will. We're brothers – we stick together, no matter what."

"What else can we do? There's nothing left! He's out of our reach, we can't do anything to make him leave!"

"Yes we can! He said he lives off your fear, right? Well, then we have something to work on." Papyrus seemed hesitant, his sad expression even more depressing with the mess that was going on around them. Sans got closer to him, the only thing preventing them from being face to face being their height difference. "It'll be hard, I won't sugarcoat it, but I won't leave you behind. I promised you I'd always protect you, and I intend to keep that promise."

Sans took a step back and stretched his hand in offering, begging silently that Papyrus took it. Tools were moving around the floor, now outside of their boxes and spiraling into de black hole in the ceiling. Papyrus stared at him skeptically for a few agonizing seconds, probably weighing the consequences of what he was going to do, and then finally went to grab his hand. Sans breathed out in relief when he saw the movement, but the comforting feeling didn't last long.

Before his brother could take his hand the Void suddenly widened, the machine giving it more power every second. Its strength grew along with its size, and the brothers found themselves now being pulled upwards.

Sans' first instinct was to take Papyrus' hand and then grab on to the first thing he could; it ended up being a shelf screwed to the wall that, by the looks of its rusty screws, wasn't going to last long, but it was their best chance for now.

"Hold on, Pap!" he shouted, the sound of metal moving around echoing across the room and making it impossible for him to even hear his own voice. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that the walls were blurry, like they didn't have a proper shape anymore, and he wondered if that was because of the Void, the time machine or just his mind playing with him.

Papyrus said something but he couldn't decipher what, although by his panicked expression it was obvious that it was nothing good, so Sans held tighter to him, trying to comfort him as he tried to ignore the big hole of nothingness that was almost taking his brother's feet now. Papyrus nodded, apparently understanding, and held tightly too in return.

Sans turned to face the door once again. It wasn't far, and he was further away from the Void than his brother so it didn't have such a strong hold on him – he could probably make it, he just had to grab on to something close to the exit. What, though? The Void had taken almost everything. There was still a wire attached to the wall, and it'd probably come loose as soon as he grabbed it, but maybe it could give him enough impulse to get to the door. The problem was getting to the wire itself: he had both of his hands occupied and even if he didn't, it was too far away.

For a moment he wondered if this was it: they were both going to disappear forever, no one knowing what their fate was while they floated away into nothingness. But then in between all the mess, the things moving around, the roaring of the machine, Sans heard something – Papyrus was crying.

And then he remembered. 'The blue magic' he thought. He sure as hell didn't know how it worked, but if he used it once, maybe he could do it again. It was their only chance, after all, so he had nothing to lose. He would have to let go of the shelf, though.

Without warning Papyrus, because he wouldn't have heard him anyway, he let go of the shelf and immediately felt himself being pulled backwards towards the black hole. He stretched his hand and tried with all his might to pull the wire with his mind and then he felt it, he felt the magic going through his fingers, and they were so close to getting out now but then there was some sort of crashing sound and he lost concentration. He turned around and saw the machine had finally given in, and it was being sucked into the Void, as well as both brothers now that they had nothing to hold on to.

"SANS!"

"PAPYRUS!"

And then without even thinking about it he pulled his brother next to him and pushed him towards the exit with all the strength he could muster, giving it more impulse with his magic.

Papyrus hitting the door was the last thing he saw before he was swept into nothingness.


	26. Chapter 26

**Please read the notes at the end!**

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It was dark, dark enough that for a second Sans wondered if he had his eyes closed – he didn't. He felt…off. Like something in him had changed, although he wasn't sure what that was. Maybe the fact that he couldn't feel his body, let alone anything around him. 'Where am I?' he thought, trying to make out something, anything, in the distance. He felt weak – was he floating? He couldn't find the floor under him.

"You'll get used to it" he heard a voice say. It was quiet, too quiet to know whether it came from far away or right next to him.

"Where am I?" he voiced his question, trying to find a way to at least sit up.

"The answer to that is very complex. You know that as much as I do." The voice sounded clearer this time and only then did Sans realize the other monster was speaking in Windings. He groaned, knowing that only one monster other than his brother spoke that language.

"So this is what The Void looks like, huh?" he 'laid down', deciding trying to stand up was useless. "Not much to see."

"No, you're right. It gets monotonous very quickly."

"Care to explain?" Sans asked staring straight ahead. He still hadn't seen Gaster, but he was pretty sure he didn't want to, either.

"What exactly?

"Everything."

"Well, that will take a while."

Sans smiled at nothing in particular. "I'm guessing we have enough time, right?"

"That is true."

Suddenly a flash of white appeared in front of Sans' eyes and before he knew it, it had expanded, deforming until it shaped into a skull. The black that surrounded it started changing too, though it didn't take any form – it just ended up giving some sort of 'body' to what Sans assumed was Gaster. He tried to get closer to him, surprised by how much the monster had changed, and realized he was now on his feet, as if The Void had turned and left him standing.

"You look like crap."

Gaster smiled, the corners of his mouth switching between being upwards and downwards as his face struggled to maintain his form. "One changes after spending enough time in a place where nothing is…solid. Not even time." He cocked his head "It'll happen to you, eventually."

Sans shook his head, not wanting to think about his future right then. "Right. Well, start talking. I'm listening."

"What do you want to know about, exactly? You studied The Void with me – at least when you managed to stop being a complete waste of space and actually worked," it sounded like a complaint, but the doctor kept smiling "so you know how all this works. The machine, too – you even predicted what was going to happen. That exceeded my expectations. I'm very proud of how you turned out."

Sans frowned, the corner of his mouth turning upwards in a sneer "Uh, thanks? I want you to tell me the how and the why of all of that – that 'plan' of yours with the machine. Even if you succeeded and got out of here, you're not yourself anymore. There's nothing for you out there. You don't even know if you could survive!"

"I am sure I can survive, Sans, but I know that the rest is true. Although, tell me: after being here for such a short time, aren't you dying to get back home?" Sans didn't reply, just stared at him in silence. "Imagine what being here for the eternity does to you. Trust me, you'd have ended up doing what I did."

"Yeah, no, trust me, I wouldn't. See, you were never even a remotely decent monster so I'm not surprised you didn't even bat an eye when you basically destroyed a child's life. I wouldn't do that. I'm curious, tho – why then? What happened that night that you suddenly found a way into Pap's mind?"

Gaster shook his head with disdain. It was the first time the smirk actually disappeared from his face. "PAI-2 has always been too emotional. I made him trying to make a better version of you, but he was a failure. Weak, useless, he couldn't even take small tests without crying."

"Then why didn't you keep testing me?!" he snapped, taking a step closer to him. "I worked alright, didn't I? So why did you basically stop working on me and kept hurting him when you say it was obvious that he wasn't working like you wanted him to?!"

Gaster smiled. It wasn't a smirk like it had been before, but Sans couldn't tell exactly what it was – frustration? Maybe. Shame? Improbable, but he couldn't scratch it out either. "Even if it doesn't seem likely, after a few years I started to get…attached to you."

Sans closed his eyes and sighed. He had figured it had something to do with that, but he just couldn't understand why. "Why me? Papyrus…Papyrus is perfect! He's the lovable one!"

"That's what it might look like to you, Sans, but Papyrus is just…forgettable. It doesn't make a difference whether or not he actually exists. You, on the other hand, are almost as smart as I am, and have a bright future ahead."

"Don't you dare say that about my brother!" he shouted, furious, but immediately went quiet as The Void started shaking slightly around him.

"Careful there," said Gaster in a renewed mocking tone "seems like you're becoming part of here faster than I thought."

Sans tried to hide his panic at the thought of actually having to stay here with that madman. "You didn't answer my question," he remembered, trying to change subject "why that night?"

"Oh, right. Well, I bet your remember it quite clearly. You really excelled as a big brother right then." The doctor laughed and Sans wanted to punch him in the face so bad, but he feared there might be nothing to actually hit. "PAI-2 was so upset that not even his brother understood him that his mind ended up being very easy to take over. And once that happened, he kept fearing me, and I kept living off that. It worked quite well, I'd say."

"You're such a sick bastard" Sans snarled, getting closer to him. "You deserve being stuck in here, all alone. You deserve way worse."

Gaster didn't flinch – in fact, he sneered. "I'm not so alone anymore, dear Sans. I've got you now."

Sans stepped away and started walking around, testing his surroundings. "So that's it? I'm stuck in here with you?" he kept walking away from the doctor. "Does this even have an end?"

"No" he heard a voice right next to him. Sans jumped, startled, and groaned when he saw the smug expression on Gaster. "That's the thing – this place is infinite in every way."

Sans stopped walking. "So how much time has passed…" he trailed off, afraid to ask.

"We can't be sure. Time passes slowly over here – or that could be my perspective. We can't find out, now."

"Why not? You have access to Pap's head, anyway, and I doubt I can make you stop" he gave up trying to get anywhere and sat down, frustrated and tired.

"You're right, you wouldn't be able to stop me. But I don't have access to PAI-2's mind anymore."

Sans looked up fast enough that he felt dizzy for a few seconds "What? Why?"

"Well, you realize you both just destroyed a time machine, right? PAI-2 doesn't have memories of me anymore."

Sans jaw dropped. Did that mean...They had altered time? How? What was it like back home, then? Did the world go back in time? Forward? Had everyone been affected? What exactly had they forgotten? Was Papyrus alone, now? Oh, God, was Papyrus alone now?

"I have to go back" he whispered, now afraid for his brother's wellbeing.

"Good luck with that" laughed the doctor.

Sans turned around to face him, desperate. "There has to be a way! If the magic from the machine could open this then something else must do it too!"

Gaster shook his head, apparently upset. "There is. I just never got it to work."

Sans frowned, confused. "What? When you were alive you mean?"

"I am alive. Or as much as I can be" he corrected but Sans could tell he wasn't trying to start an argument. "That was one of the main reasons I made PAI-2. I tried giving you some special magic – blue magic, that'd allow you to control The Void in case the time machine project went wrong, as well as other things that monster kind has never seen before… But it didn't work. I tried some other magic in PAI-2, lighter this time but with the same effects, and it didn't work – at least as far as I knew back then. As you can see, I was unable to perform any other experiments."

Sans couldn't help but shiver "Blue magic, you say?"

Gaster nodded "Very powerful but maybe too much for you and your…'brother', as you call him." He walked until he was right next to Sans. "Therefore, yes. You are trapped here, with me. At least now I can entertain myself seeing how you slowly merge with this place. That should be…interesting." He snickered, his smile never losing its creepiness.

Sans' head started working fast, trying to come up with a plan. He'd used blue magic before, right as he was about to go into The Void. Gaster hadn't seen that? He was probably too eager to escape to notice. But how did it work? How could he control this place? And if he left, would Gaster be able to leave with him? He had to avoid that at all cost.

"And how does this…blue magic work? I mean, it seems pretty impossible to 'alter' this place in any way" he asked as nonchalant as he could. He was thankful he didn't have a heart – it'd probably be racing.

Gaster didn't seem to notice how anxious he was. "It's not so much as altering as being able to move around it as you please. You see, this place only exists because of magic. Not the best kind of magic, of course, but magic…And like any kind of magic there are types that it can't completely overcome."

"But wasn't The Void's magic the most powerful? Even more than the barrier?" he asked, remembering those tiring nights when the doctor used to ramble about his discoveries while Sans struggled to stay awake.

"It is, but again, there's some powerful magic out there that can compete with it."

"And you managed to create some?"

"Yes." The doctor smiled, pleased, and Sans knew he'd won. There was no way Gaster would keep all the information to himself, even less after so much time since someone had listened to him. "Many monsters have blue magic, although I wouldn't say it's common. I tried combining it with an artificial kind of magic that I hoped would resemble the magic of the barrier. It took me years – I started working on it even before I created you, but I finally did it, although to no avail; despite all of my efforts, my work was wasted when neither of my experiments were strong enough to handle it." He walked until he was right next to Sans. "At first I thought you could. You had so much potential, Sans, and all the data I had indicated that you should be able to control this magic. It was such a disappointment when you couldn't…" And he actually seemed disappointed.

Sans tried to go back to his main question "But how does it work? I mean, the machine 'summoned' The Void, is it something like that?"

"Yes, it's similar. The machine was supposed to use the void to travel back in time – time works in funny ways, here, as I've already told you. If something went wrong you were supposed to use this magic to 'summon The Void', as you put it, so you could find a way to save the project."

"And go back the same way I came here?"

"Exactly."

"But how would I be able to take the machine with me?"

"You don't 'take it'. The machine has its own magic, it was supposed to do that on its own and, if it failed, you were to give it some of your magic so it'd keep on working. Blue magic, as every type of magic, only extends to you."

"Well, monsters can heal others with their magic."

"That's how magic works when it encounters other magic, Sans. It doesn't mean you're able to give your abilities to other monsters." He seemed pissed off, as if Sans was being completely ridiculous.

"It doesn't make sense, though. I mean, this is like a completely alternate universe, one can't come and go as one pleases, right? You can't just 'merge' two universes, no matter how powerful your magic is – at least not without any consequences."

"You don't. Your blue magic has many properties Sans, just like the magic from the barrier, the most important ones control time and space. With that you can move from place to place without causing any major disasters that would surely haunt your mind" he said as he laughed mockingly.

Sans crossed his arms and smiled smugly "You really thought all this through, didn't you?"

"I dedicated my whole life to this project, Sans. Ended up here because of it. You should know that more than anyone" he retorted, offended.

Sans smiled, satisfied. "Well, I think I have everything I need then."

Gaster cocked his head and frowned "What do you mean?"

"I've got all eternity to work this out but I think it mustn't be that hard, right? You see, doctor, I actually have blue magic. Don't worry," he said when he saw the expression on Gaster's face "I just found out…today. Seems like I only needed a bit more motivation, you know, other than being tortured. Weird, huh?"

He felt so good. He was the one in control now, and there was nothing Gaster could do to stop him. "So, congratulations!" he went on "Your experiments went great!" he clapped, the sound echoing annoyingly.

For the first time in Sans' life he saw the doctor out of words. He looked shocked, and Sans wanted to stay longer just to keep seeing that expression. But he had to go home – go to Papyrus.

"So, what do I do? Just…picture it?" he closed his eyes and heard a sort of water-like sound as Gaster approached him. "How would you have taught me to do this?"

Gaster's voice sounded unlike anything he'd ever heard – it was like his throat was being torn apart "No, you cannot leave, Sans! You can't leave me here on my own again!" he shouted, clearly trying to sound intimidating but failing.

"Sorry, bud. Too late for apologies."

"Sans, listen to me! You have to stay!" Sans shushed him, trying to concentrate. "SANS –"

The skeleton felt something around him and to his disgust realized that Gaster had gone through him. The monster quieted after that.

"I'm sorry, old man. You've screwed enough lives for me to never forgive you" he kept his eyes shut as he pictured Snowdin, then his house, then the lab where he had last seen Papyrus. "The funny part is" he opened one eye to glance at the doctor, who looked miserable, "if Papyrus was here, he'd probably let you go."

He could feel his magic buzzing around him, filling him. It was a part of him, what completed him – he'd never felt anything like that. He wondered if it was like that for every monster or just him. He didn't have time to think though, as he felt an abrupt change around him and realized he was no longer in The Void.

He was on solid floor now. His legs buckled slightly, unsteady, but he quickly got the hang of it again. Once he looked up the first thing he saw was his brother.

"Papyrus!" he shouted, running towards the skeleton. He was right where he had left him, laying against the door, apparently unconscious. "Papyrus, are you ok!?" he started shaking him. Had he hurt his brother that bad?

Then there was a low hum as Papyrus opened his eyes. He looked confused for a few seconds, his eyes wondering around the room, before they finally focused on Sans. Then, he grinned – an expression Sans hadn't seen since Papyrus was a little kid. Sans chuckled, unable to contain his relief and, most of all, his happiness.

"God, you scared me, bro" he said teasingly as he stood up and offered his brother a hand. He took it.

Papyrus waved his hand dismissively "You know very well that nothing can defeat the great Papyrus!"

Sans frowned, his smile still present, but feeling slightly confused. Undyne was the only one who called Papyrus that. It was an inside joke for them, and Papyrus never complained, but he'd never actually referred to himself that way. Sans let it slide – after all they had been through hell that day, Papyrus was allowed to act weird.

"Yeah, of course" he played along. "Let's go home, alright? I've got a lot of stuff to tell you." He was anxious. He didn't know how Papyrus would react to all that information, but he wasn't about to hide it from him.

"Sure thing, brother! Though I have to ask…Where exactly are we?"

Sans, who was just about to open the door, stopped dead in his tracks. Of course. Gaster had already told him – Papyrus had forgotten about him. But he remembered Sans, so how much had he actually forgotten? And should Sans say anything about what had actually happened?

"Uh…" he trailed off, unsure about what to say. "I don't know bro, I just found you here. Maybe you sleepwalked or something."

Papyrus frowned "Do I sleepwalk?"

"Guess so?" Sans shrugged, smiling innocently. Apparently his brother bought it because he was quickly back to smiling.

"Well, of course! I always have things to do, even when I'm sleeping."

Now that was more like his Papyrus. Sans chuckled, relieved; maybe he was just worrying about nothing. Papyrus would probably benefit from this, now that his mind was free of that creepy bastard.

They walked out and went to the house, Sans trying to hurry up as much as possible to spare some questions he wouldn't be able to answer honestly. He wondered how much Papyrus remembered about his life. What would he tell Grillby? 'Hey, this is inconvenient, but Papyrus kinda forgot about everything, probably about you, too.' That wasn't going to work. First, though, he needed to know exactly how much Papyrus remembered.

"Pap?" he called once they went inside. Papyrus had gone straight to the kitchen and Sans trailed behind him.

"Yes, Sans?"

Was he preparing noodles? He was preparing noodles. Why was he preparing noodles in the afternoon? It was still too early.

"Um, why are you cooking? It's not dinner time yet."

"Oh." Papyrus paused and looked around for a second, seemingly confused. "I'm not sure. I was just feeling weird and felt like having some spaghetti."

"Why weird?" Sans leaned on the counter, trying to pretend the worry wasn't coming back.

"I don't know. I feel like something's…" he made a vague gesture with his hands "missing, somehow. I'm not sure about what."

Sans nudged him "Well, you did hit your head pretty hard" he forced himself to crack a smile.

"Didn't you say I sleepwalked?"

Sans stood still for a moment before getting his brain back to work "Well, it looked like you decided to sleep on that floor. Maybe you laid down too hard." Papyrus frowned, suspicious. Sans quickly changed topic. "Hey, um, do you mind if I go to Grillby's?"

"You have a thing for that disgusting food, Sans. It's not healthy!" he groaned, doubts forgotten.

There, there was his chance to ask. "Yeah, but the man who cooks that greasy food cooks spaghetti for you too and I don't see you complaining about that."

"He cooks spaghetti too? Wowie! Why didn't you tell me! And for me? Please, do bring it home!"

Sans closed his eyes. God, he forgot about Grillby too. What about Undyne? And his school? What about their memories? Papyrus had forgotten about his own dad.

"Y-yeah. I'll be sure to bring it. Or maybe he can do it after he closes?" he suggested, holding on to his last hope.

Papyrus crossed his arms. "Sans, you can't ask him to work after work. That's inconsiderate!"

Nope. Sans nodded absently, his soul turning inside him. How would he tell Grillby about this? Grillby loved Papyrus – he was like the son he never had.

"Well, I'm gonna go now. I'll leave you to…that" he pointed at the noodles.

Papyrus beamed, a big, carefree smile – one Sans had never seen. "I'll leave some for when you come back! Maybe for once you'll listen to me and avoid all that poisoning food."

"Maybe." In fact Sans wasn't hungry at all.

He went outside, still refusing to believe it. For some reason his brother remembered him – thank God – but had forgotten everyone else. Maybe because they shared a soul? Sans had seen the holes on Gaster's hands – so if they shared the same origins it was highly possible they shared the same soul, too. He was relieved about that, but God, what about the consequences of this? What would he say to everyone? The school? Undyne? His main focus was Grillby, though. That would be hard to figure out.

He got to the bar and rushed inside. He needed to talk to someone, and if that meant telling Grillby everything, then so be it. It didn't matter anymore. He just needed the bartender to help him deal with this.

"Hey, Grill, can I talk to you for a second?" he asked once he'd sat down on a stool.

Grillby looked at him for a second with his ever present blank expression and approached him.

"Yes? What's the matter?" Sans thanked the stars for his relaxed tone. It was just what he needed right now.

Sans started talking, and realized he couldn't stop. "You're gonna be mad, I know, and you have all the right to be. But something happened – something with Papyrus. You see, you know how he's been having nightmares, and we didn't want to tell you at first because we thought we could handle it but we couldn't. It was Gaster that was getting inside his dreams, and it sounds crazy, I know, but it's true. He told Pap to fix the time machine and –"

"Wait, wait a second, please" he interrupted. Sans realized he was out of breath and tried to calm down. "What do you mean? Gaster? A time machine? And –"

"Yes! I know it's crazy, but it'll all make sense in the end."

"And who is Papyrus?"

For a second he felt like the world had stopped and he was stuck there, in that moment. He was out of breath again, but this time because he just couldn't breathe. God, it couldn't be real. It just couldn't. Grillby – he couldn't have forgotten about Papyrus. Not him.

"W-what do you mean, who is Papyrus?" he asked, voice shaky. It just couldn't be.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know him." The worst thing was that he actually looked upset. Upset for Sans.

Sans grew desperate, his soul feeling like someone was squeezing it. "Yes, you do!"

"I'm sorry, I do not. Did he come to the war with me? It's been so long, one can forget some monsters." No, you can't because they all live trapped in the underground and there's not a chance of not knowing everybody around town.

Sans clutched his skull desperately "Oh my God…Oh my God, what am I gonna do now?" he whispered, panicking.

"Hey, don't worry, just tell me what the problem is and we'll figure it out. Is he lost? Are you related to him? Maybe if you tell me your name we can track him down, if that's the case."

Sans looked up, his white pinpricks gone. Grillby didn't remember him. Grillby didn't remember him.

Sans got down of the stool, legs wobbly. He felt dizzy. Everyone was looking at him with weird expressions. They didn't remember him either, did they? They didn't. No one remembered him or his brother.

"Hey, hey, calm down, ok? It's going to be fine" he heard Grillby's voice, but he was too busy trying to think clearly to actually understand anything he was saying.

'What are we gonna do?' was the only thing he could think of. Then he felt someone grabbing his arm and saw the bartender crouching next to him, obviously trying to help. He shook him off, too upset to care about the sad look on Grillby's face, and ran outside.

He saw them now. He saw the confused expressions of everyone in the street – a look he hadn't seen since the first few days after Papyrus started going outside. Nobody knew him. And Papyrus didn't know anyone. He was the only one left with the memories.

He ran home, doing the best he could to avoid the other monsters and their curious eyes. Once inside he shut the door and locked it, only then realizing he had tears streaming down his face. He stared at the door, feeling lost.

"Hello, brother! I was expecting you to come home much later! Did you finally listen to my advice? There's some warm spaghetti waiting for you!" when Sans didn't reply Papyrus got closer to him "Sans?" he put a hand on his brother's shoulder "Are you ok?"

Sans didn't say anything. He couldn't. He couldn't find his own voice. Everything he knew was gone, they had nothing left, and how where they going to make it? What would he do? And the school wouldn't take Papyrus in, maybe Papyrus wouldn't even want to go, and he'd lost his only friend. How would they move on after this?

He felt something against his back and realized Papyrus was hugging him from behind. That broke him. He started sobbing, now unable to control it. He couldn't do this, not on his own. Not without Grillby. How would he give Papyrus the future he deserved just by himself?

"I'm sorry, Sans" he heard his brother say. "I don't know what's wrong, but I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about it?" Sans shook his head. No, he couldn't share the burden with Papyrus. His brother had suffered too much – now he had a chance of being happy. He wouldn't take that away from him. "That's ok," he continued "but I'm here to talk if you need to, alright?"

Sans brushed away his tears. "Thanks, Pap" he sniffed.

"No problem!" said his brother, now back to his cheerful self. "A great brother like you needs great caring! And who better to give that than the great Papyrus!" He grinned and proceeded to go to the living room.

Oh, yeah, that. He walked towards the couch where Papyrus was sitting now, waiting for him "Papyrus…why do you call yourself that? Not to say you're not great, cause you know you are," he quickly clarified "but where did you get it from?" He knew he couldn't have from Undyne. He'd accepted that.

"I'm not sure" he said as Sans sat next to him, and he wondered if that would be a recurrent answer now. "It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? And you have always said I'm great."

"Because you are."

"I know. So I am the great Papyrus!"

Sans smiled. If there was someone out there that could help him feel better it was his little brother. And he was oh so glad that now that Gaster was out of Papyrus' mind completely he was feeling confident.

"And such a great monster can only have a great brother, don't you think?"

Sans looked at him from the corner of his eye. It was obvious that Papyrus was trying to make him feel better, but he still sounded honest.

"Yeah…Not feeling so great right now" he admitted as he closed his eyes and laid back into the couch. He would figure something out. Papyrus needed him and he wasn't about to let him down. He'd have time to grieve later, now wasn't the time.

He felt his brother's hand on his forearm. "Well, for the time being, I can be great for both of us. Until you feel better." He sounded serious and Sans wanted to hug him.

Instead he just grinned for the first time in what felt like forever. He opened his eyes and looked over to Papyrus. "Yeah, that'd be good. Thanks, Pap."

"No problem, brother," he said, switching on the TV "you know I'll always take care of you."

* * *

 **That's it guys! It's finally over. I LOVED writing this, specially since it had been years since the last time I wrote anything at all. and your support was amazing. Thank you, seriously. I really appreciate it.**

 **Now, there was a lot of stuff I couldn't write because of lack of time and/or because it just didn't feel right (I'm talking about some Flowey stuff, Gaster stuff and things from Pap's childhood). So I was thinking that, if you want, you guys can give me some prompts to write stuff you wanted to see and didn't and I'll be happy to do so. Of course, only if you want to. This can be the end, period, and we all move on too XD But I wanted to let the choice out in the open. If you wanna give me prompts you can either leave them in the comments or send an ask to me to my tumblr (beinghappyiseasier).**

 **So yeah, that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! And remember, kudos and comments are always appreciated! ;D**


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